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THE  EXPOSITOR’S  BIBLE.  Edited  by  Rev. 

W.  R,  Nicoll,  D.D.,  Editor  of  London  Expositor. 

1  37  Series  in  6  Vols. 

MACLAREN,  Rev.  A  lux  — COLOS3IANS — PHILEMON. 
DOD8.  Rev.  Marcus. — GENESIS. 

CHADWICK,  Rev.  Dean — ST.  MARK. 

BLA1KIK,  Rev.  W.  G.— SAMUEL,  §  Vols.  ~  • 

EDWARDS,  Rev.  T.  C.— HEBREWS.  .  2.  ® 

2d  Series  in  6  Vols. 

SMITH,  Rev.  G.  A.— ISAIAH,  Vol.  I.  -  .  j= 

ALEXANDER,  Bishop _ EPISTLES  OF  ST.  JOHN.  5  g  “• 

PLCJHMER,  Rev.  A.— PASTORAL  EPISTLES.  E  ®  a 

FISH  LAY,  Rev.  €».  G. -GALATIANS.  E  a.  c 

MILLIGAN,  Rev.  W _ REVELATION.  ?u  ° 

DoDS,  Rev.  Marcus.— 1st  CORINTHIANS.  25  >.  c 

3d  Series  in  6  Vols. 

SMITH,  Rev.  G.  A  .-ISAIAH,  Vol.  H. 

«niS()X,  Rev.  J.  M — ST.  MA'TTHEW. 

WATSON,  Rev.  R.  A. -JUDGES  -  RUTH. 

BALL,  Rev.  C.  J.— JEREMIAH.  Chap.  I-XX. 

CHADWICK,  Hev.  Dean.— EXODUS. 

BURTON,  Rev.  K.-ST.  LUKE. 

4th  Series  in  6  Vols. 

KELLOGG,  Rev.  S.  H. — LEVIrTICUS. 

STOKES,  Rev.  G.  T.— ACTS,  Vol.  I. 

HORTON,  Hev.  K.  F.— PROVERBS. 

HODS,  Rev.  Marcus. — GOSPEL  ST.  JOHN,  Vol.  I. 
PLUMMER,  Rev.  A.— JAMES— JUDE. 

COX,  Rev.  S.— ECCLESIASTES. 

5th  Series  in  6  Vols. 

DENNEY,  Rev.  J _ THE.SS ALONI AN S. 

WATSON,  Rev.  li.  A _ JOB. 

MACLARKN,  Rev.  A.-  PSALMS,  Vol.  I. 

STOKES,  Rev.  G.  T _ ACTS,  Vol.  II. 

DOI)>,  Rhv.  Marcus.— GOSPEL  ST  JOHN,  Vol.  II. 
FINDLAY,  Rev.  C.  G.-EPRESIANS. 

8th  Series  in  6  Vols.  f1  °  „ 

RAINY,  Rev.  R.— PHILIPPI  A  NS.  ^ 

FARRAR,  Archdeacon  F.  \V.  — 1st  KINGS.  o  £  s 

BLAJKIE,  Rev.  W.  G _ JOSHUA.  °  - 

MACLAREN,  Rev.  A.— PSALMS,  Vol.  II.  *  2  Z 

HIM  BY,  Rev.  J.  R.- EPISTLES  OF  ST.  PETER.  =  "  j! 
ADENEY.Rev.W.F.- EZRA— NEIIEMIAH-ESTHER.  °  -  j 

7th  Series  in  6  Vols. 

MOULF,  Rev.  K.  C.G.— ROMANS.  M 

FARRAR,  Archdeacon  F.  W. — 2d  KINGS. 

BKNNETT,  Rev.  W.  H _ 1st  and  2d  CHRONICLES. 

MACLAREN,  Rev.  A. -PSALMS.  Vol.  III. 

DENNEY,  Rov.  James.-2D  CORINTHIANS. 

WATSON,  Rev.  R.  A.— NUMBERS. 

8th  and  Final  Series  in  7  Vols. 

FARRAR,  Archdeacon  F.  W. — DANIEL. 

SKINNER,  Rev.  John.— EZEKIEL. 

BENNETT,  Rev.  W.  H.-JERFMIAK. 

HARPER,  Rev.  Prof.- DEUTERONOMY. 

ADEWEY,  Rev.  W.  F.-SOLOMON  AND  LAMENTATIONS. 
SMITH,  Rev.  G.  A.— TEE  MINOR  PROPHETS,  2  Vols. 


_  & 


THE 


BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


BY  THE  VERY  REV. 


G.  A.  .CHADWICK,  D.D., 

Dean  of  Armagh , 

AUTHOR  or  “CHRIST  BEARING  WITNESS  TO  HIMSELF,”  “  AS  HE  THAT 
6ERVETH,”  “  THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  MARK,”  ETC. 


NEW  YORK : 

A.  C.  ARMSTRONG  AND  SON, 


51  East  10th  Street,  Near  Broadway. 
1899. 


^9  i 

£pv 

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v.sl 


O'NEILL  LIBRARY 

BOSTON  COLLEGE 


O'NEILL  LIBRARY 
BOSTON  COLLEGE 


7949° 


PREFACE. 

MUCH  is  now  denied  or  doubted,  within  the 
Church  itself,  concerning  the  Book  of  Exodus, 
which  was  formerly  accepted  with  confidence  by  all 
Christians. 

But  one  thing  can  neither  be  doubted  nor  denied. 
Jesus  Christ  did  certainly  treat  this  book,  taking  it 
as  He  found  it,  as  possessed  of  spiritual  authority, 
a  sacred  scripture.  He  taught  His  disciples  to 
regard  it  thus,  and  they  did  so. 

Therefore,  however  widely  His  followers  may 
differ  about  its  date  and  origin,  they  must  admit  the 
right  of  a  Christian  teacher  to  treat  this  book,  taking 
it  as  he  finds  it,  as  a  sacred  scripture  and  invested 
with  spiritual  authority.  It  is  the  legitimate  subject 
of  exposition  in  the  Church. 

Such  work  this  volume  strives,  however  imper¬ 
fectly,  to  perform.  Its  object  is  to  edify  in  the  first 
place,  and  also,  but  in  the  second  place,  to  inform. 
Nor  has  the  author  consciously  shrunk  from  saying 
what  seemed  to  him  proper  to  be  said  because  the 
utterance  would  be  unwelcome,  either  to  the  latest 
critical  theory,  or  to  the  last  sensational  gospel  of 
an  hour. 

But  since  controversy  has  not  been  sought, 

b 


PREFACE. 


although  exposition  has  not  been  suppressed  when 
it  carried  weapons,  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the 
volume  appeals  to  all  who  accept  their  Bible  as,  in 
any  true  sense,  a  gift  from  God. 

No  task  is  more  difficult  than  to  exhibit  the  Old 
Testament  in  the  light  of  the  New,  discovering  the 
permanent  in  the  evanescent,  and  the  spiritual  in 
the  form  and  type  which  it  inhabited  and  illuminated. 
This  book  is  at  least  the  result  of  a  firm  belief  that 
such  a  connection  between  the  two  Testaments  does 
exist,  and  of  a  patient  endeavour  to  receive  the 
edification  offered  by  each  Scripture,  rather  than  to 
force  into  it,  and  then  extort  from  it,  what  the 
expositor  desires  to  find.  Nor  has  it  been  supposed 
that  by  allowing  the  imagination  to  assume,  in 
sacred  things,  that  rank  as  a  guide  which  reason 
holds  in  all  other  practical  affairs,  any  honour  would 
be  done  to  Him  Who  is  called  the  Spirit  of  know¬ 
ledge  and  wisdom,  but  not  of  fancy  and  quaint 
conceits. 

If  such  an  attempt  does,  in  any  degree,  prove 
successful  and  bear  fruit,  this  fact  will  be  of  the 
nature  of  a  scientific  demonstration. 

If  this  ancient  Book  of  Exodus  yields  solid  results 
to  a  sober  devotional  exposition  in  the  nineteenth 
Christian  century,  if  it  is  not  an  idle  fancy  that  its 
teaching  harmonises  with  the  principles  and  theology 
of  the  New  Testament,  and  even  demands  the  New 
Testament  as  the  true  commentary  upon  the  Old, 
what  follows  ?  How  comes  it  that  the  oak  is 
potentially  in  the  acorn,  and  the  living  creature  in 
the  egg  ?  No  germ  is  a  manufactured  article  :  it 
is  a  part  of  the  system  of  the  universe. 


ANALYSIS  OF  CONTENTS, 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Prologue,  i.  i— 6. 

Books  linked  by  conjunction  “And  Scripture  history  a  con¬ 
nected  whole,  I. — So  is  secular  history  organic  :  “  Philosophy 
of  history.”  The  Pentateuch  being  a  still  closer  unity,  Exodus 
rehearses  the  descent  into  Eg}Tpt,  2. — Heredity:  the  family  of 
Jacob,  3. — Death  of  Joseph.  Influence  of  Egypt  on  the  shep¬ 
herd  race,  4. — A  healthy  stock:  good  breeding.  Goethe’s 
aphorism,  5* — Ourselves  and  our  descendants,  6. 

God  in  History,  i.  7. 

In  Exodus,  national  history  replaces  biography,  6. — Contrasted 
narratives  of  Jacob  and  Weses.  Spiritual  progress  from  Genesis 
to  Exodus,  7. — St.  Paul’s  view:  Law  prepares  for  Gospel, 
especially  by  our  failures,  8. — This  explains  other  phenomena  : 
failures  in  various  circumstances,  of  innocence  in  Eden ;  of  an 
elect  family;  now  of  a  race,  a  nation,  9. — Israel,  failing  with 
all  advantages,  needs  a  Messiah.  Faith  justifies,  in  Old  Testa¬ 
ment  as  in  New,  10. — Scripture  history  reveals  God  in  this 
life,  in  all  things,  11. — True  spirituality  owns  God  in  the 
secular  :  this  is  a  gospel  for  our  days,  12-13. 

The  Oppression,  i.  7 — 22. 

Early  prosperity :  its  dangers :  political  supports  vain,  13. — • 
Joseph  forgotten.  National  responsibilities  :  despotism,  14. — 
Nations  and  their  chiefs.  Our  subject  races,  15. — The  Church 
and  her  King :  imputation.  Pharaoh  precipitates  what  he 
fears,  16. — Egypt  and  her  aliens:  modern  parallels,  17. — 
Tyranny  is  tjrannous  even  when  cultured,  18. — Our  undue 
estrangement  from  the  fallen  :  Jesus  a  brother.  Toil  crushes 
the  spirit,  19. — Israel  idolatrous.  Religious  dependence,  20. 
— Direct  interposition  required.  Bitter  oppression,  21.— 


ANALYSIS  OF  CONTENTS. 


•  •• 


via 


Pharaoh  drops  the  mask.  Defeated  by  the  human  heart.  The 
midwives,  22. — Tneir  falsehood.  Morality  is  progressive,  23. — 
Culture  and  humanity,  24. — Religion  and  the  child,  25. 


CHAPTER  IL 

The  Rescue  or  Moses,  ii.  I — 10. 

Importance  of  the  individual,  26. — A  man  versus  “  the  Time* 
spirit,”  27. — The  parents  of  Moses,  28. — Their  family  :  their 
goodly  child,  29. — Emotion  helps  faith,  30. — The  ark  in  the 
bulrushes,  31. — Pharaoh’s  daughter  and  Miriam,  32. — Guidance 
for  good  emotions  :  the  Church  for  humanity,  33. 

The  Choice  of  Moses,  ii,  1  1-15- 

God  employs  means,  34. — Value  of  endowment.  Moses  and  his 
family.  “The  reproach  of  Christ,”  35. — An  impulsive  act,  36. — 
Impulses  not  accidents.  The  hopes  of  Moses,  37. — Moses  and 
his  brethren.  His  flight,  38. 

Moses  in  Midian,  ii.  16 — 22. 

Energy  in  disaster,  39. — Disinterested  bravery.  Parallels  with  a 
variation,  40. — The  Unseen  a  refuge.  Duty  of  resisting  small 
wrongs.  His  wife,  41. — A  lonely  heart,  42. 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  Burning  Bush,  ii.  23 — iii. 

Death  of  Raamses.  Misery  continues,  43. — The  cry  of  the 
oppressed,  44. — Discipline  of  Moses,  45. — How  a  crisis  comes, 
46. — God  hitherto  unmcntioned.  The  Angel  of  the  Lord,  47. — 
An  unconsuming  fire,  48. — Inquiry  :  reverence.  God  finds,  not 
man,  49. — “Take  off  thy  shoe.”  “The  God  of  thy  father,” 
50. — Immortality.  “My  people,”  not  saints  only,  51. — The 
good  land.  The  commission,  52.— God  with  him.  A  strange 
token,  53. 

A  New  Name,  iii.  14 ;  vi.  2,  3. 

Why  Moses  asked  the  name  of  God  :  idolatry  :  pantheism,  54. — 
A  progressive  revelation,  55. — Jehovah.  The  sound  corrupted. 
Similar  superstitions  yet,  56. — What  it  told  the  Jews.  Reality 
of  being,  57. — Jews  not  saved  by  ideas.  Streams  of  tendency. 
The  Self-contained.  We  live  in  our  past,  58. — And  in  our 
future,  59. — Yet  Jehovah  not  the  impassive  God  of  Lucretius, 


ANALYSIS  OF  CONTENTS. 


IX 


60. — The  Immutable  is  Love.  This  is  our  help,  6l. — Human 
will  is  not  paralysed,  62. — The  teaching  of  St.  Paul.  All  this 
is  practical,  63. — This  gives  stability  to  all  other  revelations. 
Our  own  needs,  64. 

The  Commission,  iii.  10,  16 — 22. 

God  comes  where  He  sends,  65. — The  Providential  man.  Pru¬ 
dence,  66. — Sincerity  of  demand  for  a  brief  respite,  67. — God 
has  already  visited  them.  By  trouble  He  transplants,  68. — 
The  “  borrowing  ”  o  jewels,  69. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Moses  Hesitates,  iv.  1 — 17. 

Scripture  is  impartial  :  Josephus,  70. — Hindrance  from  his  own 
people.  The  rod,  — The  serpent  :  the  leprosy,  72. — “I  am 

not  eloquent,”  73. — God  with  us.  Aaron  the  Levite,  74. — Re¬ 
sponsibility  of  not  working.  The  errors  of  Moses,  75. — Power 
of  fellowship.  Vague  fears,  76. — With  his  brother,  Moses  will 
go.  The  Church,  77. — This  craving  met  by  Christ,  78. — Family 
affection.  Examples,  79. 

Moses  Obeys,  iv.  18 — 31. 

Fidelity  to  his  employer.  Reticence,  80. — Resemblance  to  story 
of  Jesus.  He  is  the  Antitype  of  all  experiences,  81. — Counter¬ 
point  in  history.  “Israel  is  My  son,”  82. — A  neglected  duty 
Zipporah.  Was  she  a  helpmeet  ?  83. — Domestic  unhappiness. 
History  v.  myth,  84. — The  failures  of  the  good,  85. — Men  of 
destiny  are  not  irresponsible,  86. — His  first  followers  :  a  joyful 
reception,  87. — Spiritual  joy  and  reaction,  88. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Pharaoh  Refuses,  v.  i — 23. 

Moses  at  court  again.  Formidable,  89. — Power  of  convictions 
but  also  of  tyranny  and  pride.  Menephtah  :  his  story,  90. — 
Was  the  Pharaoh  drowned  ?  The  demand  of  Jehovah,  91. — 
The  refusal,  92. — Is  religion  idleness?  Hebrews  were  task¬ 
masters,  93. — Demoralised  by  slavery.  They  are  beaten,  94.— 
Murmurs  against  Moses.  He  returns  to  God.  His  remon¬ 
strance,  95. — His  disappointment.  Not  really  irreverent,  96. — 
Use  of  this  abortive  attempt,  97-8* 


X 


ANALYSIS  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Encouragement  of  Moses,  vi.  i — 30. 

The  word  Jehovah  known  before  :  its  consolations  now,  99. — 
The  new  truth  is  often  implicit  in  the  old,  100. — Discernment 
more  needed  than  revelation.  “Judgments,”  101. — My  people: 
your  God,  102. — The  tie  is  of  God’s  binding,  103. — Fatherhood 
and  sonship,  104. — Faith  becomes  knowledge.  The  body 
hinders  the  soul,  105. — We  are  responsible  for  bodies.  Israel 
weighs  Moses  down,  106. — We  may  hold  back  the  saints,  107. 
— The  pedigree,  107-8. — Indications  of  genuine  history,  108-9. 
—“As  a  god  to  Pharaoh,”  no. — We  also,  in. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Hardening  of  Pharaoh’s  Heart,  vii.  3 — 13. 

The  assertion  offends  many,  1 12. — Was  he  a  free  agent?  When 
hardened.  A.V.  incorrect,  1 13. — He  resists  five  plagues  spon¬ 
taneously.  The  last  five  are  penal,  114. — Not  “  hardened  ”  in 
wickedness,  but  in  nerve.  A.V.  confuses  three  words  :  His 
heart  is  ( a )  “hardened,”  1 15. — ( b )  it  is  made  “strong”  (c) 
“heavy,”  1 16. — Other  examples  of  these  words,  1 1 7. — The 
warning  implied,  1 17-19. — Moses  returns  with  the  signs,  1 19. — 
The  functions  of  miracle,  i2Qk 

The  Plagues,  vii.  14. 

Their  vast  range,  121. — Their  relation  to  Pantheism,  Idolatry, 
Philosophy,  122. — And  to  the  gods  of  Egypt.  Their  retributive 
fitness,  123. — Their  arrangement,  1 24. — Like  our  Lord’s,  not 
creative,  125. — God  in  common  things,  126. — Some  we  inflict 
upon  ourselves.  Yet  rationalistic  analogies  fail,  127. — Duration 
of  the  conflict,  128. 

The  First  Plague,  vii.  14—25. 

The  probable  scene,  129. — Extent  of  the  plague.  The  magicians. 
Its  duration,  131. — Was  Israel  exempt?  Contrast  with  first 
miracle  of  Jesus,  132- 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Second  Plague,  viii.  1 — 15. 

Submission  demanded.  Severity  of  plague,  I33. — Pharaoh 
humbles  himself,  134. — “Glory  over  me.”  Pharaoh  breaks 
faith,  135. 


ANALYSIS  OF  CONTENTS. 


xi 


The  Third  Plague,  viii.  1 6 — 19. 

Various  theories.  A  surprise.  Magicians  baffled,  136 — What 
they  confess,  137. 

The  Fourth  Plague,  viii.  20 — 32. 

“  Rising  up  early,”  137. — Bodily  pain.  Beetles  or  flies?  “A 
mixture,”  138. — Goshen  exempt.  Pharaoh  suffers.  He  sur¬ 
renders,  139. — Respite  and  treachery.  Would  Moses  have 
returned  ?  140. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Fifth  Plague,  ix.  1 — 7. 

First  attack  on  life.  Animals  share  our  fortunes,  141.  The  new 
summons.  Murrain,  142. — Pharaoh’s  curiosity,  143. 

The  Sixth  Plague,  ix.  8 — 12. 

No  warning,  yet  Author  manifest.  Ashes  of  the  furnace,  144. — 
Suffering  in  the  flesh.  The  magicians  again.  Pharaoh  s  heart 
“made  strong,”  145. — Dares  not  retaliate,  146. 

The  Seventh  Plague,  ix.  13 — 35. 

Expostulation  not  mockery,  146-7. — God  is  wronged  by  slavery, 
147. — Civil  liberty  is  indebted  to  religion.  “Plagues  upon 
thine  heart,”  148. — A  mis-rendering  :  why  he  was  not  crushed, 
149. — An  opportunity  of  escape.  The  storm,  150. — Ruskin  upon 
terrors  of  thunderstorm,  151. — Pharaoh  confesses  sin,  152. — 
Moses  intercedes.  The  weather  in  history.  Job’s  assertion, 

153- 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  Eighth  Plague,  x.  I — 20. 

Moses  encouraged,  154. — Deliverances  should  be  remembered. 
A  sterner  rebuke.  Locusts  in  Egypt,  155. — Their  effect.  The 
court  interferes.  Yet  “their  hearts  hardened”  also,  156  — 
Infatuation  of  Pharaoh.  Parallel  of  Napoleon,  157. — Women 
and  little  ones  did  share  in  festivals,  158. — A  gentle  wind. 
Locusts.  Another  surrender,  159. — Relief.  Our  broken  vows, 
160. 

The  Ninth  Plague,  x.  21 — 29. 

Menephtah’s'sun-worship,  161.— Suddenness  of  the  plague.  Con¬ 
centrated  narrative,  162. — Darkness  represents  death,  163.— 


XVI 


ANALYSIS  OF  CONTENTS. 


The  First  Commandment,  xx.  3. 

Monotheism  and  a  real  God,  289. — False  creeds  attractive. 
Spiritualism.  Science  indebted  to  Monotheism,  290. — Unity 
of  nature  a  religious  truth.  Strength  of  our  experimental 
argument,  291.  Informal  apostacy.  Luther’s  position.  Scrip¬ 
ture.  The  Chaldeans,  292. — Animal  pleasure,  293. — The 
remedy :  “Thou  shalt  have  .  .  .  Me,”  294. 

The  Second  Commandment,  xx.  4 — 6. 

Imagery  not  all  idolatry.  The  subtler  paganisms,  295.  Spiritual 
worship,  like  a  Gothic  building,  aspires  :  images  lack  expan¬ 
siveness,  296. — Gcd  is  jealous,  297. — The  shadow  of  love,  298. 
Visiting  sins  on  children,  299,  300. — Part  of  vast  beneficent 
law,  300-2. — Gospel  in  law,  302. 

The  Third  Commandment,  xx.  7. 

Meaning  of  “in  vain,”  302. — Jewish  superstition.  Where  swear¬ 
ing  is  wholly  forbidden,  303. — Fruitful  and  free  use  of  God’s 
name,  304-5. 


The  Fourth  Commandment,  xx.  8 — II. 

Law  of  Sabbath  unique.  Confession  of  Augsburg.  Of  West¬ 
minster,  305. — Anglican  position.  St.  Paul,  306. — The  first 
positive  precept.  Love  not  the  abolition  of  the  law,  307. — 
Property  of  our  friends.  The  word  “remember.”  The  story 
of  creation,  308. — The  manna.  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Ezekiel,  300. 
— Christ’s  freedom  was  that  of  a  Jew.  “  Sabbath  for  man,” 
310. — Our  help,  not  our  fetter.  “My  Father  worketh,”  31 1. 

The  Fifth  Commandment,  xx.  12. 

Bridge  between  duty  to  God  and  to  neighbour,  312. — Father  and 
child,  313. — “  Whosoever  hateth  not.”  Christ  and  His  mother. 
Its  sanction,  314. 

The  Sixth  Commandment,  xx.  13. 

Who  is  neighbour?  Ethics  and  religion,  315-16. — Science  and 
morals,  317. — A  Divine  creature.  Capital  punishment,  318. 

The  Seventh  Commandment,  xx.  14. 

Justice  forbids  act:  Christ  forbids  desire.  Sacredness  of  body, 
319. — Human  body  connects  material  and  spiritual  worlds. 
Modifies,  while  serves,  320. — Marriage  a  type,  321. 


ANALYSIS  OF  CONTENTS. 


xvn 


The  Eighth  Commandment,  xx.  15. 

Assailed  by  communism,  by  Rome.  Various  specious  pleas,  322. 
— Laws  of  community  binding,  323. — None  may  judge  his  own 
case.  St.  Paul  enlarges  the  precept,  324. 

The  Ninth  Commandment,  xx.  16. 

Importance  of  words.  Various  transgressions,  325. — Slander 
against  nations,  against  the  race.  Love,  326-7. 

The  Tenth  Commandment,  xx.  17. 

The  list  of  properties,  328. — The  heart.  The  law  searches,  329. 

THE  LESSER  LAW,  xx.  18 — xxiii.  33. 

A  remarkable  code.  The  circumstances,  331. — Moses  fears  :  yet 
bids  them  fear  not,  332-3. — Presumption  v.  awe.  He  receives 
an  expanded  decalogue,  an  abridged  code,  334. — Laws  should 
educate  a  people;  should  not  outrun  their  capabilities,  335-6. — 
Five  subdivisions,  337. 

I.  The  Law  of  Worship,  xx.  22 — 26. 

Images  again  forbidden,  337. — Splendour  and  simplicity.  An 
objection,  338. — Modesty,  339. 

CHAPTER  XXI.  THE  LESSER  LAW  ( continued ). 

II.  Rights  of  the  Person,  xxi.  1 — 32. 

The  Hebrew  slave.  The  seventh  year.  Year  of  jubilee.  His 
famil}’,  340. — The  ear  pierced.  St.  Paul’s  “  marks  of  the  Lord.” 
Assaults,  341. — The  Gentile  slave,  342. — The  female  slave, 
342-3. — Murder  and  blood-fiends,  343. — Parents.  Kidnappers, 
344. — Eye  for  eye.  Mitigations  of  lex  talionis ,  344-5. — Vicious 
cattle,  346. 

III.  Rights  of  Property,  xxi.  33 — xxii.  15. 

Negligence:  indirect  responsibility:  various  examples,  346-8.— 
Theft,  348. 

CHAPTER  XXII.  THE  LESSER  LAW  ( continued ). 

IV.  Various  Enactments,  xxii.  16 — xxiii.  19. 

Disconnected  precepts.  No  trace  of  systematic  revision.  Certain 
capital  crimes,  348-9. 


xviii 


ANALYSIS  OF  CONTENTS. 


Sorcery,  xxii.  18. 

Abuses  have  recoiled  against  religion,  349. — Sorcerers  are  im¬ 
postors,  but  they  existed,  and  do  still,  350. —  Moses  could  not 
leave  them  to  enlightened  opinion.  Propagated  apostaey,  351. 
— Traitors  in  a  theocracy,  352. — When  shall  witchcraft  die  ? 

353* 

The  Stranger,  xxii.  21  ;  xxiii.  9. 

“  Ye  were  strangers,”  354. — A  fruitful  principle.  Morality  not 
expediency,  355. — Cruelty  often  ignorance:  Moses  educates, 
356. — The  widow.  The  borrower,  357. — Other  precepts,  358. 

CHAPTER  XXIII.  THE  LESSER  LAW  ( continued ). 

An  enemy’s  cattle.  A  false  report,  359. — Influence  of  multitude  : 
the  world  and  the  Church,  360-1.  Favour  not  the  poor,  361-2. 
Other  precepts.  “A  kid  in  his  mother’s  milk,”  362. 

Lesser  Law,  V.  Its  Sanctions,  xxiii.  20 — 33. 

A  bold  transition:  the  Angel  in  Whom  is  “My  Name,”  363. — - 
Not  a  mere  messenger,  364. — Nor  the  substitute  of  chap,  xxxiii. 
2,  3,  365-6. — Parallel  verses,  366-7. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

The  Covenant  Ratified.  The  Vision  of  God,  xxiv. 

The  code  is  accepted,  written,  ratified  with  blood,  368. — Exclusion 
and  admittance.  The  elders  see  God  :  Moses  goes  farther. 
Theophanies  of  other  creeds,  369. — How  could  they  see  God  ? 
370. — Moses  feels  not  satisfaction,  but  desire,  37 1. — His  progress 
is  from  vision  to  shadow  and  a  Voice,  372. — We  see  not  each 
other,  373. — St.  Augustine,  373-4. — The  vision  suits  the  period  : 
not  post-Exilian,  374-5. — Contrast  with  revelation  in  Christ, 

375- 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

The  Shrine  and  its  Furniture,  xxv.  i — 40. 

The  God  of  Sinai  will  inhabit  a  tent.  His  other  tabernacles, 
376-7. — The  furniture  is  typical.  Altar  of  incense  postponed, 
377 • — The  ark  enshrines  His  law  and  its  sanctions,  377-8  — 
The  mercy-seat  covers  it,  378-81. — Man’s  homage.  The  table 
of  slicwbread,  382-3. — The  golden  candlestick  (lamp-stand) 
3^3-6 


ANALYSIS  OF  CONTEXTS. 


xix 


The  Pattern  in  the  Mount,  xxv.  9,  40. 

Use  in  Hebrews.  Plato,  386. — Not  a  model,  but  an  idea.  Art, 

387.  — Provisional  institutions,  387-8. — The  ideal  in  creation, 

388.  —  In  life,  389. 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 


The  Tabernacle. 

“Temple”  an  ambiguous  word,  390. — -“Curtains  of  the  Taber¬ 
nacle,”  391. — Other  coverings,  392. — The  boards  and  sockets, 
392-3. — The  bars.  The  tent,  393. — Position  of  veil,  394,  and 
of  the  front,  395. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

The  Outer  Court. 

The  altar,  396. — The  quadrangle,  397. — General  effect,  398-400. 

CHAPTER  XXVIII 

The  Holy  Garments. 

Their  import,  401. — The  drawers.  “Coat.”  Head-tires.  Rooe 
of  the  ephod.  Ephod.  Jewels,  402. — Breastplate.  Urim  and 
Thummim.  Mitre.  Symbolism,  403. 

The  Priesthood. 

Universal  desire  and  dread  of  God,  404. — Delegates,  405. — Scrip¬ 
ture.  First  Moses,  406. — His  family  passed  over.  The  double 
consciousness  expressed,  407-9. — Messianic  priesthood,  409. 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Consecration  Services. 

Why  consecrate  at  all?  410. — Moses  officiates.  The  offerings, 
41 1. — Ablution,  robing,  anointing,  412-13. — The  sin-offering, 
413-14.  “  Without  the  camp,”  414.  The  burnt-offering,  415.— 
The  peace-offering  (“ram  of  consecration’),  415. — The  wave- 
offerings,  415-16. — The  result,  416-17. 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

Incense,  xxx.  i — 10. 

The  impalpable  in  nature,  418. — “The  golden  altar, ”419. — Repre¬ 
sents  prayer.  Needs  cleansing,  420. 


XX 


ANALYSIS  OF  CONTENTS. 


A  Census,  xxx.  ii — 1 6. 

A  census  not  sinful.  David’s  transgression.  The  half-shekel. 
Equality  of  man,  421. — Christ  paid  it,  422. — Its  employment, 

423. 

The  Laver,  xxx.  17 — 21. 

Behind  the  altar.  Purity  of  priests,  423. — Made  of  the  mirrors, 
424- 

Anointing  Oil  and  Incense,  xxx.  22 — 38. 

Their  ingredients.  All  the  vessels  anointed,  424. —  Forbidden  to 
secular  uses,  425. — Modern  analogies,  426-7. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Bezaleel  and  Aholiab,  xxxi.  I — 18. 

Secular  gifts  are  sacred,  428-30. — The  Sabbath.  The  tables  and 
“the  finger  of  God,”  431. 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

The  Golden  Calf. 

Sin  of  the  people ;  of  Aaron.  God  rejects  them,  432. — Intercession. 
The  Christian  antitype,  433-4. 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Prevailing  Intercession. 

The  first  concession.  The  angel,  435.— “The  Tent  of  the  Meet¬ 
ing,”  436. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 


The  Vision  of  God. 

To  know  is  to  desire  to  know.  A  fit  season.  The  greater 
Name,  438. — The  covenant  renewed.  The  tables.  The  skin 
of  his  face  shone,  439. — Lessons,  440. 


CHAPTERS  XXXV.— XL.  CONCLUSION. 

The  people  obey,  441. — The  forming  of  the  nation :  review 
441-3* 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  PROLOGUE. 

Exodus  i.  1-6. 

“And  these  are  the  names  of  the  children  of  Israel  which  came 
into  Egypt.” 

MANY  books  of  the  Old  Testament  begin  with 
the  conjunction  And.  This  fact,  it  has  been 
often  pointed  out,  is  a  silent  indication  of  truth,  that 
each  author  was  not  recording  certain  isolated  inci¬ 
dents,  but  parts  of  one  great  drama,  events  which 
oined  hands  with  the  past  and  future,  looking  before 
and  after. 

Thus  the  Book  of  the  Kings  took  up  the  tale  from 
Samuel,  Samuel  from  Judges,  and  Judges  from  Joshua, 
and  all  carried  the  sacred  movement  forward  towards 
a  goal  as  yet  unreached.  Indeed,  it  was  impossible, 
remembering  the  first  promise  that  the  seed  of  the 
woman  should  bruise  the  head  of  the  serpent,  and 
the  later  assurance  that  in  the  seed  of  Abraham 
should  be  the  universal  blessing,  for  a  faithful  Jew  to 
forget  that  all  the  history  of  his  race  was  the  evolution 
of  some  grand  hope,  a  pilgrimage  towards  some  goal 
unseen.  Bearing  in  mind  that  there  is  now  revealed  to 
us  a  world-wide  tendency  toward  the  supreme  consum¬ 
mation,  the  bringing  all  things  under  the  headship  of 
Christ,  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  this  hope  of  the 

I 


2 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


ancient  jew  is  given  to  all  mankind.  Each  new  stage 
in  universal  history  may  be  said  to  open  with  this 
same  conjunction.  It  links  the  history  of  England 
with  that  of  Julius  Caesar  and  of  the  Red  Indian; 
nor  is  the  chain  composed  of  accidents :  it  is  forged 
by  the  hand  of  the  God  of  providence.  Thus,  in  the 
conjunction  which  binds  these  Old  Testament  narra¬ 
tives  together,  is  found  the  germ  of  that  instinctive 
and  elevating  phrase,  the  Philosophy  of  History.  But 
there  is  nowhere  in  Scripture  the  notion  which  too 
often  degrades  and  stiffens  that  Philosophy — the  notion 
that  history  is  urged  forward  by  blind  foices,  amid 
which  the  individual  man  is  too  puny  to  assert  himself. 
Without  a  Moses  the  Exodus  is  inconceivable,  and  God 
always  achieves  His  purpose  through  the  providential 
man. 

The  Books  of  the  Pentateuch  are  held  together  in  a 
yet  stronger  unity  than  the  rest,  being  sections  of  one 
and  the  same  narrative,  and  having  been  accredited 
with  a  common  authorship  from  the  earliest  mention 
of  them.  Accordingly,  the  Book  of  Exodus  not  only 
begins  with  this  conjunction  (which  assumes  the  pre¬ 
vious  narrative),  but  also  rehearses  the  descent  into 
Egypt.  u  And  these  are  the  names  of  the  sons  of 
Israel  which  came  into  Egypt,’’ — names  blotted  with 
many  a  crime,  rarely  suggesting  any  lovable  or  great 
association,  yet  the  names  of  men  with  a  marvellous 
heritage,  as  being  the  sons  of  Israel,”  the  Prince 
who  prevailed  with  God.  Moreover  they  are  conse¬ 
crated  :  their  father’s  dying  words  had  conveyed  to 
every  one  of  them  some  expectation,  some  mysterious 
import  which  the  future  should  disclose.  In  the  issue 
would  be  revealed  the  awful  influence  of  the  past  upon 


i.  1-6.] 


THE  PROLOGUE. 


3 


the  future,  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children  even  beyond 
the  third  and  fourth  generation — an  influence  which  is 
nearer  to  destiny,  in  its  stern,  subtle  and  far-reaching 
strength,  than  any  other  recognised  by  religion.  Destiny, 
however,  it  is  not,  or  how  should  the  name  of  Dan  have 
faded  out  from  the  final  list  of  “  every  tribe  of  the 
children  of  Israel"  in  the  Apocalypse  (Rev.  vii.  5-8), 
where  Manasseh  is  reckoned  separately  from  Joseph  to 
complete  the  twelve  ? 

We  read  that  with  the  twelve  came  their  posterity, 
seventy  souls  in  direct  descent  from  Jacob;  but  in  this 
number  he  is  himself  included,  according  to  that  well- 
known  Orientalism  which  Milton  strove  to  force  upon 
our  language  in  the  phrase — 

u  The  fairest  of  her  daughters  Eve.” 

Joseph  is  also  reckoned,  although  he  11  was  in  Egypt 
already."  Now,  it  must  be  observed  that  of  these 
seventy,  sixty-eight  were  males,  and  therefore  the 
people  of  the  Exodus  must  not  be  reckoned  to  have 
sprung  in  the  interval  from  seventy,  but  (remembering 
polygamy)  from  more  than  twice  that  number,  even  if 
we  refuse  to  make  any  account  of  the  household  which 
is  mentioned  as  coming  with  every  man.  These  house¬ 
holds  were  probably  smaller  in  each  case  than  that  of 
Abraham,  and  the  famine  in  its  early  stages  may  have 
reduced  the  number  of  retainers  ;  yet  they  account  for 
much  of  what  is  pronounced  incredible  in  the  rapid 
expansion  of  the  clan  into  a  nation.*  But  when  all 

*  Professor  Curtiss  quotes  a  volume  of  family  memoirs  which 
shows  that  5,564  persons  are  known  to  be  descended  from  Lieutenant 
John  Hollister,  who  emigrated  to  America  in  the  year  1642  (Ex- 
posilor,  Nov.  18S7,  p.  329).  This  is  probably  equal  in  ratio  to  the 
increase  of  Israel  in  Egypt. 


4 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


allowance  has  been  made,  the  increase  continues  to 
be,  such  as  the  narrator  clearly  regards  it,  abnormal, 
well-nigh  preternatural,  a  fitting  type  of  the  expansion, 
amid  fiercer  persecutions,  of  the  later  Church  of  God, 
the  true  circumcision,  who  also  sprang  from  the  spiritual 
parentage  of  another  Seventy  and  another  Twelve. 

“And  Joseph  died,  and  all  his  brethren,  and  all  that 
generation."  Thus  the  connection  with  Canaan  be¬ 
came  a  mere  tradition,  and  the  powerful  courtier  who 
had  nursed  their  interests  disappeared.  When  they 
remembered  him,  in  the  bitter  time  which  lay  before 
them,  it  was  only  to  reflect  that  all  mortal  help  must 
perish.  It  is  thus  in  the  spiritual  world  also.  Paul 
reminds  the  Philippians  that  they  can  obey  in  his 
absence  and  not  in  his  presence  only,  working  out 
their  own  salvation,  as  no  apostle  can  work  it  out  on 
their  behalf.  And  the  reason  is  that  the  one  real  sup¬ 
port  is  ever  present.  Work  out  your  own  salvation, 
for  it  is  God  (not  any  teacher)  Who  worketh  in  you. 
The  Hebrew  race  was  to  learn  its  need  of  Him,  and 
in  Him  to  recover  its  freedom.  Moreover,  the  influ¬ 
ences  which  mould  all  men’s  characters,  their  surround¬ 
ings  and  mental  atmosphere,  were  completely  changed. 
These  wanderers  for  pasture  were  now  in  the  presence 
of  a  compact  and  impressive  social  s}rstem,  vast  cities, 
gorgeous  temples,  an  imposing  ritual.  They  were 
infected  as  well  as  educated  there,  and  we  find  the  men 
of  the  Exodus  not  only  murmuring  for  Egyptian 
comforts,  but  demanding  visible  gods  to  go  before 
them. 

Yet,  with  all  its  drawbacks,  the  change  was  a  neces¬ 
sary  part  of  their  development.  They  should  return 
from  Egypt  relying  upon  no  courtly  patron,  no  mortal 
might  or  wisdom,  aware  of  a  name  of  God  more  pro- 


i.  1-6.] 


THE  PROLOGUE. 


5 


found  than  was  spoken  in  the  covenant  of  their  fathers, 
with  their  narrow  family  interests  and  rivalries  and 
their  family  traditions  expanded  into  national  hopes, 
national  aspirations,  a  national  religion. 

Perhaps  there  is  another  reason  why  Scripture  has 
reminded  us  of  the  vigorous  and  healthy  stock  whence 
came  the  race  that  multiplied  exceedingly.  For  no 
book  attaches  more  weight  to  the  truth,  so  miserably 
perverted  that  it  is  discredited  by  multitudes,  but 
amply  vindicated  by  modern  science,  that  good  breed¬ 
ing,  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  word,  is  a  powerful 
factor  in  the  lives  of  men  and  nations.  To  be  well 
born  does  not  of  necessity  require  aristocratic  parent¬ 
age,  nor  does  such  parentage  involve  it :  but  it  implies 
a  virtuous,  temperate  and  pious  stock.  In  extreme 
cases  the  doctrine  of  race  is  palpable  ;  for  who  can 
doubt  that  the  sins  of  dissolute  parents  are  visited 
upon  their  puny  and  short-lived  children,  and  that  the 
posterity  of  the  just  inherit  not  only  honour  and  a 
welcome  in  the  world,  “an  open  door,”  but  also  immu¬ 
nity  from  many  a  physical  blemish  and  many  a  perilous 
craving  ?  If  the  Hebrew  race,  after  eighteen  centuries 
of  calamity,  retains  an  unrivalled  vigour  and  tenacity, 
be  it  remembered  how  its  iron  sinew  has  been  twisted, 
from  what  a  sire  it  sprang,  through  what  ages  of  more 
than  “  natural  selection  ”  the  dross  was  throughly 
purged  out,  and  (as  Isaiah  loves  to  reiterate)  a  chosen 
remnant  left.  Already,  in  Egypt,  in  the  vigorous 
multiplication  of  the  race,  was  visible  the  germ  of  that 
amazing  vitality  which  makes  it,  even  in  its  over¬ 
throw,  so  powerful  an  element  in  the  best  modern 
thought  and  action. 

It  is  a  well-known  saying  of  Goethe  that  the  quality 
for  which  God  chose  Israel  was  probably  toughness. 


6 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


Perhaps  the  saying  would  better  be  inverted  :  it  was 
among  the  most  remarkable  endowments,  unto  which 
Israel  was  called,  and  called  by  virtue  of  qualities  in 
which  Goethe  himself  wTas  remarkably  deficient. 

Now,  this  principle  is  in  full  operation  still,  and 
ought  to  be  solemnly  pondered  by  the  young.  Self- 
indulgence,  the  sowing  of  wild  oats,  the  seeing  of  life 
while  one  is  young,  the  taking  one’s  fifing  before  one 
settles  down,  the  having  one’s  day  (like  11  every  dog,” 
for  it  is  to  be  observed  that  no  person  says,  11  every 
Christian  ”),  these  things  seem  natural  enough.  And 
their  unsuspected  issues  in  the  next  generation,  dire 
and  subtle  and  far-reaching,  these  also  are  more  natural 
still,  being  the  operation  of  the  laws  of  God. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  youth  living  in 
obedience  alike  to  the  higher  and  humbler  laws  of  our 
complex  nature,  in  purity  and  gentleness  and  healthful 
occupation,  who  may  not  contribute  to  the  stock  of 
happiness  in  other  lives  beyond  his  own,  to  the  future 
well-being  of  his  native  land,  and  to  the  day  when  the 
sadly  polluted  stream  of  human  existence  shall  again 
flow  clear  and  glad,  a  pure  river  of  water  of  life. 

GOD  IN  HISTORY. 

i.  7. 

With  the  seventh  verse,  the  new  narrative,  the 
course  of  events  treated  in  the  main  body  of  this  book, 
begins. 

And  we  are  at  once  conscious  of  this  vital  difference 
between  Exodus  and  Genesis, — that  we  have  passed 
from  the  story  of  men  and  families  to  the  history  of  a 
nation.  In  the  first  book  the  Canaanites  and  Egyptians 
concern  us  only  as  they  affect  Abraham  or  Joseph.  In 


GOD  IN  HISTORY, 


7 


i.  7.] 

the  second  book,  even  Moses  himself  concerns  us  only 
for  the  sake  of  Israel.  He  is  in  some  respects  a  more 
imposing  and  august  character  than  any  who  preceded 
him  ;  but  what  we  are  told  is  no  longer  the  story  of  a 
soul,  nor  are  we  pointed  so  much  to  the  development 
of  his  spiritual  life  as  to  the  work  he  did,  the  tyrant 
overthrown,  the  nation  moulded,  the  law  and  the  ritual 
imposed  on  it. 

For  Jacob  it  was  a  discovery  that  God  was  in  Bethel 
as  well  as  in  his  father’s  house.  But  now  the  Hebrew 
nation  was  to  learn  that  He  could  plague  the  gods  of 
Egypt  in  their  stronghold,  that  His  way  was  in  the  sea, 
that  Horeb  in  Arabia  was  the  Mount  of  God,  that  He 
could  lead  them  like  a  horse  through  the  wilderness. 

When  Jacob  in  Peniel  wrestles  with  God  and  pre¬ 
vails,  he  wins  for  himself  a  new  name,  expressive  of 
the  higher  moral  elevation  which  he  has  attained.  But 
when  Moses  meets  God  in  the  bush,  it  is  to  receive  a 
commission  for  the  public  benefit ;  and  there  is  no  new 
name  for  Moses,  but  a  fresh  revelation  of  God  for  the 
nation  to  learn.  And  in  all  their  later  history  we  feel 
that  the  national  life  wrhich  it  unfolds  was  nourished 
and  sustained  by  these  glorious  early  experiences,  the 
most  unique  as  well  as  the  most  inspiriting  on  record. 

Here,  then,  a  question  of  great  moment  is  suggested. 
Beyond  the  fact  that  Abraham  was  the  father  of  the 
Jewish  race,  can  wre  discover  any  closer  connection 
between  the  lives  of  the  patriarchs  and  the  history  of 
Israel  ?  Is  there  a  truly  spiritual  coherence  between 
them,  or  merely  a  genealogical  sequence  ?  For  if  the 
Bible  can  make  good  its  claim  to  be  vitalised  throughout 
by  the  eternal  Spirit  of  God,  and  leading  forward 
steadily  to  His  final  revelation  in  Chiist,  then  its  parts 
will  be  symmetrical,  proportionate  and  well  designed. 


8 


THE  BOOK  OB  EXODUS . 


If  it  be  a  universal  book,  there  must  be  a  better  reason 
for  the  space  devoted  to  preliminary  and  half  secular 
stories,  which  is  a  greater  bulk  than  the  whole  of  the  New 
Testament,  than  that  these  histories  chance  to  belong 
to  the  nation  whence  Christ  came.  If  no  such  reason 
can  be  found,  the  failure  may  not  perhaps  outweigh  the 
great  evidences  of  the  faith,  but  it  will  score  for  some¬ 
thing  on  the  side  of  infidelity.  But  if  upon  examina¬ 
tion  it  becomes  plain  that  all  has  its  part  in  one  great 
movement,  and  that  none  can  be  omitted  without 
marring  the  design,  and  if  moreover  this  design  has 
become  visible  only  since  the  fulness  of  the  time  is 
come,  the  discovery  will  go  far  to  establish  the  claim  of 
Scripture  to  reveal  throughout  a  purpose  truly  divine, 
dealing  with  man  for  ages,  and  consummated  in  the 
gift  of  Christ. 

Now,  it  is  to  St.  Paul  that  we  turn  for  light  upon  the 
connection  between  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New. 
And  he  distinctly  lays  down  two  great  principles.  The 
first  is  that  the  Old  Testament  is  meant  to  educate  men 
for  the  New;  and  especially  that  the  sense  of  failure, 
impressed  upon  men’s  consciences  by  the  stern  de¬ 
mands  of  the  Law,  was  necessary  to  make  them  accept 
the  Gospel. 

The  law  was  our  schoolmaster  to  bring  us  to  Christ : 
it  entered  that  sin  might  abound.  And  it  is  worth 
notice  that  this  effect  was  actually  wrought,  not  only 
upon  the  gross  transgressor  by  the  menace  of  its 
broken  precepts,  but  even  more  perhaps  upon  the  high- 
minded  and  pure,  by  the  creation  in  their  breasts  of 
an  ideal,  inaccessible  in  its  loftiness.  He  who  says, 
All  these  things  have  I  kept  from  my  youth  up,  is  the 
same  who  feels  the  torturing  misgiving,  What  good 
thing  must  I  do  to  attain  life  ?  .  .  .  What  lack  I  yet? 


GOD  IN  HISTORY. 


9 


i.  7.] 

He  who  was  blameless  as  touching  the  righteousness 
of  the  law,  feels  that  such  superficial  innocence  is 
worthless,  that  the  law  is  spiritual  and  he  is  carnal, 
sold  under  sin. 

Now,  this  principle  need  by  no  means  be  restricted 
to  the  Mosaic  institutions.  If  this  wTere  the  object  of 
the  law,  it  would  probably  explain  much  more.  And 
when  w7e  return  to  the  Old  Testament  with  this  clue, 
we  find  every  condition  in  life  examined,  every  social 
and  political  experiment  exhausted,  a  series  of  demon¬ 
strations  made  with  scientific  precision,  to  refute  the 
arch-heresy  which  underlies  all  others — that  in  favour¬ 
able  circumstances  man  might  save  himself,  that  for  the 
evil  of  our  lives  our  evil  surroundings  are  more  to  be 
blamed  than  wre. 

Innocence  in  prosperous  circumstances,  unwarped 
by  evil  habit,  untainted  by  corruption  in  the  blood, 
uncompelled  by  harsh  surroundings,  simple  innocence 
had  its  day  in  Paradise,  a  brief  day  with  a  shameful 
close.  God  made  man  upright,  but  he  sought  out  many 
inventions,  until  the  flood  swept  away  the  descendants 
of  him  who  was  made  after  the  image  of  God. 

Next  w7e  have  a  chosen  family,  called  out  from  all 
the  perilous  associations  of  its  home  beyond  the  river, 
to  begin  a  new  career  in  a  new  land,  in  special  covenant 
with  the  Most  High,  and  with  every  endowment  for 
the  present  and  every  hope  for  the  future  which  could 
help  to  retain  its  loyalty.  Yet  the  third  generation 
reveals  the  thirst  of  Esau  for  his  brother’s  blood,  the 
treachery  of  Jacob,  and  the  distraction  and  guilt  of  his 
fierce  and  sensual  family.  It  is  when  individual  and 
family  life  have  thus  proved  ineffectual  amid  the 
happiest  circumstances,  that  the  tribe  and  the  nation 
essay  the  task.  Led  up  from  the  furnace  of  affliction, 


10 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


hardened  and  tempered  in  the  stern  free  life  of  the 
desert,  impressed  by  every  variety  of  fortune,  by  slavery 
and  escape,  by  the  pursuit  of  an  irresistible  foe  and 
by  a  rescue  visibly  divine,  awed  finally  by  the  sublime 
revelations  of  Sinai,  the  nation  is  ready  for  the  cove¬ 
nant  (which  is  also  a  challenge) — The  man  that  doeth 
these  things  shall  live  by  them  :  if  thou  diligently  hearken 
unto  the  voice  of  the  Lord  thy  God  .  .  .  He  shall  set 
thee  on  high  above  all  nations. 

Such  is  the  connection  between  this  narrative  and 
what  went  before.  And  the  continuation  of  the  same 
experiment,  and  the  same  failure,  can  be  traced  through 
all  the  subsequent  history.  Whether  in  so  loose  an 
organisation  that  every  man  does  what  is  right  in  his 
own  eyes,  or  under  the  sceptre  of  a  hero  or  a  sage, — 
whether  so  hard  pressed  that  self-preservation  ought 
to  have  driven  them  to  their  God,  or  so  marvellously 
delivered  that  gratitude  should  have  brought  them  to 
their  knees, — whether  engulfed  a  second  time  in  a  more 
hopeless  captivity,  or  restored  and  ruled  by  a  hierarchy 
whose  authority  is  entirely  spiritual, — in  every  variety 
of  circumstances  the  same  melancholy  process  repeats 
itself ;  and  lawlessness,  luxury,  idolatry  and  self-right¬ 
eousness  combine  to  stop  every  mouth,  to  make  every 
man  guilty  before  God,  to  prove  that  a  greater  salvation 
is  still  needed,  and  thus  to  pave  the  way  for  the 
Messiah. 

The  second  great  principle  of  St.  Paul  is  that  faith 
in  a  divine  help,  in  pardon,  blessing  and  support,  was 
the  true  spirit  of  the  Old  Testament  as  well  as  of  the 
New.  The  challenge  of  the  lawT  was  meant  to  produce 
self-despair,  only  that  men  might  trust  in  God.  Appeal 
v/as  made  especially  to  the  cases  of  Abraham  and  David, 
the  founder  of  the  race  and  of  the  dynasty,  clearly 


GOD  IN  HISTORY. 


11 


1.7.] 


because  the  justification  without  works  of  the  patriarch 
and  of  the  king  w^ere  precedents  to  decide  the  general 
question  (Rom.  iv.  1-8).  Now,  this  is  pre-eminently 
the  distinction  between  Jewish  history  and  all  others, 
that  in  it  God  is  everything  and  man  is  nothing.  Every 
sceptical  treatment  of  the  story  makes  Moses  to  be  the 
deliverer  from  Egypt,  and  shows  us  the  Jewish  nation 
gradually  finding  out  God.  But  the  nation  itself  be¬ 
lieved  nothing  of  the  kind.  It  confessed  itself  to  have 
been  from  the  beginning  vagrant  and  rebellious  and 
unthankful :  God  had  always  found  out  Israel,  never 
Israel  God.  The  history  is  an  expansion  of  the  parable 
of  the  good  shepherd.  And  this  perfect  harmony  of  a 
long  record  with  itself  and  with  abstract  principles  is 
both  instructive  and  reassuring. 

As  the  history  of  Israel  opens  before  us,  a  third 
principle  claims  attention — one  which  the  apostle  quietly 
assumes,  but  which  is  forced  on  our  consideration  by  the 
unhappy  state  of  religious  thought  in  these  degenerate 
days. 

“  They  are  not  to  be  heard,”  says  the  Seventh  Article 
rightly,  u  which  feign  that  the  old  fathers  did  look  oniy 
for  transitory  promises.”  But  certainly  they  also  would 
be  unw’orthy  of  a  hearing  who  would  feign  that  the 
early  Scriptures  do  not  give  a  vast,  a  preponderating 
weight,  to  the  concerns  of  our  life  on  earth.  Only 
very  slowly,  and  as  the  result  of  long  training,  does  the 
future  begin  to  reveal  its  supremacy  over  the  present. 
It  would  startle  many  a  devout  reader  out  of  his  pro¬ 
priety  to  discover  the  small  proportion  of  Old  Testa¬ 
ment  scriptures  in  which  eternity  and  its  prospects  are 
discussed,  to  reckon  the  passages,  habitually  applied  to 
spiritual  thraldom  and  emancipation,  which  were  spoken 
at  first  of  earthly  tyranny  and  earthly  deliverance, 


12 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


and  to  observe,  even  in  the  pious  aspirations  of  the 
Psalms,  how  much  of  the  gratitude  and  joy  of  the 
righteous  comes  from  the  sense  that  he  is  made  wiser 
than  the  ancient,  and  need  not  fear  though  a  host  rose 
up  against  him,  and  can  break  a  bow  oi  steel,  and  has 
a  table  prepared  for  him,  and  an  overflowing  cup. 
Especially  is  this  true  of  the  historical  books.  God  is 
here  seen  ruling  states,  judging  in  the  earth,  remember¬ 
ing  Israel  in  bondage,  and  setting  him  free,  providing 
supernatural  food  and  water,  guiding  him  by  the  fiery 
cloud.  There  is  not  a  word  about  regeneration,  con¬ 
version,  hell,  or  heaven.  And  yet  there  is  a  profound 
sense  of  God.  He  is  real,  active,  the  most  potent  factor 
in  the  daily  lives  of  men.  Now,  this  may  teach  us  a 
lesson,  highly  important  to  us  all,  and  especially  to 
those  who  must  teach  others.  The  difference  between 
spirituality  and  secularity  is  not  the  difference  between 
the  future  life  and  the  present,  but  between  a  life  that 
is  aware  of  God  and  a  godless  one.  Perhaps,  wThen 
we  find  our  gospel  a  matter  of  indifference  and  weari¬ 
ness  to  men  who  are  absorbed  in  the  bitter  monotonous 
and  dreary  struggle  for  existence,  we  ourselves  are 
most  to  blame.  Perhaps,  if  Moses  had  approached  the 
Hebrew  drudges  as  we  approach  men  equally  weary 
and  oppressed,  they  would  not  have  bowed  their  heads 
and  worshipped.  And  perhaps  wTe  should  have  better 
success,  if  we  took  care  to  speak  of  God  in  this  world, 
making  life  a  noble  struggle,  charging  with  new  signifi¬ 
cance  the  dull  and  seemingly  degraded  lot  of  all  who 
remember  Him,  such  a  God  as  Jesus  revealed  when  He 
cleansed  the  leper,  and  gave  sight  to  the  blind,  using 
one  and  the  same  word  for  the  “  healing”  of  diseases 
and  the  “  saving”  of  souls,  and  connecting  faith  equally 
with  both.  Exodus  will  have  little  to  teach  us,  unless 


THE  OTTRESSION. 


13 


i.  7-22.] 

we  believe  in  that  God  who  knoweth  that  we  have  need 
of  food  and  clothing.  And  the  higher  spiritual  truth* 
which  it  expresses  will  only  be  found  there  in  dubious 
and  questionable  allegory,  unless  we  firmly  grasp  the 
great  truth,  that  God  is  not  the  Saviour  of  souls,  or  of 
bodies,  but  of  living  men  in  their  entirety,  and  treats 
their  higher  and  lower  wants  upon  much  the  same 
principle,  because  He  is  the  same  God,  dealing  with 
the  same  men,  through  both. 

Moreover,  He  treats  us  as  the  men  of  other  ages. 
Instead  of  dealing  with  Moses  upon  exceptional  and 
strange  lines,  He  made  known  His  ways  unto  Moses, 
His  characteristic  and  habitual  ways.  And  it  is  on 
this  account  that  whatsoever  things  were  written 
aforetime  are  true  admonition  for  us  also,  being  not 
violent  interruptions  but  impressive  revelations  of  the 
steady  silent  methods  of  the  judgment  and  the  grace  of 
God. 

THE  OPPRESSION, 
i.  7-22. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  history  of  Israel  wTe  find  a 
prosperous  race.  It  was  indeed  their  growing  import¬ 
ance,  and  chiefly  their  vast  numerical  increase,  which 
excited  the  jealousy  of  their  rulers,  at  the  very  time 
when  a  change  of  dynasty  removed  the  sense  of 
obligation.  It  is  a  sound  lesson  in  political  as  well 
as  personal  godliness  that  prosperity  itself  is  dangerous, 
and  needs  special  protection  from  on  high. 

Is  it  merely  by  chance  again  that  we  find  in  this 
first  of  histories  examples  of  the  folly  of  relying  upon 
political  connections  ?  As  the  chief  butler  remembered 
not  Joseph,  nor  did  he  succeed  in  escaping  from  prison 
by  securing  influence  at  court,  so  is  the  influence  of 


14 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


Joseph  himself  now  become  vain,  although  he  was 
the  father  of  Pharaoh  and  lord  of  all  his  house.  His 
romantic  history,  his  fidelity  in  temptation,  and  the 
services  by  which  he  had  at  once  cemented  the  royal 
power  and  saved  the  people,  could  not  keep  his  memory 
alive.  The  hollow  wraith  of  dying  fame  died  wholly. 
There  arose  a  new  king  over  Egypt  who  knew  not 
Joseph. 

Such  is  the  value  of  the  highest  and  purest  earthly 
fame,  and  such  the  gratitude  of  the  world  to  its 
benefactors.  The  nation  which  Joseph  rescued  from 
starvation  is  passive  in  Pharaoh’s  hands,  and  persecutes 
Israel  at  his  bidding. 

And  when  the  actual  deliverer  arose,  his  rank  and 
influence  wTere  only  entanglements  through  which  he 
had  to  break. 

Meanwhile,  except  among  a  few  women,  obedient  to 
the  woman’s  heart,  we  find  no  trace  of  independent 
action,  no  revolt  of  conscience  against  the  absolute 
behest  of  the  sovereign,  until  selfishness  replaces  virtue, 
and  despair  wrings  the  cry  from  his  servants,  Knowest 
thou  not  yet  that  Egypt  is  destroyed  ? 

Now,  in  Genesis  we  saw  the  fate  of  families,  blessed 
in  their  father  Abraham,  or  cursed  for  the  offence  ot 

Ham.  For  a  family  is  a  real  entity,  and  its  members, 
like  those  of  one  body,  rejoice  and  suffer  together.  But 

the  same  is  true  of  nations,  and  here  we  have  reached 
the  national  stage  in  the  education  of  the  world.  Here 
is  exhibited  to  us,  therefore,  a  nation  suffering  with  its 
monarch  to  the  uttermost,  until  the  cry  of  the  maid¬ 
servant  behind  the  mill  is  as  wild  and  bitter  as  the 
cry  of  Pharaoh  upon  his  throne.  It  is  indeed  the 
eternal  curse  of  despotism  that  unlimited  calamity  may 
be  drawn  down  upon  millions  by  the  caprice  of  one 


i.  7-22.] 


THE  OPPRESSION. 


15 


most  unhappy  man,  himself  blinded  and  half  maddened 
by  adulation,  by  the  absence  of  restraint,  by  unlimited 
sensual  indulgence  if  his  tendencies  be  low  and  animal, 
and  by  the  pride  of  power  if  he  be  high-spirited  and 
aspiring. 

If  we  assume,  what  seems  pretty  well  established, 
that  the  Pharaoh  from  whom  Moses  fled  was  Rameses 
the  Great,  his  spirit  was  of  the  nobler  kind,  and  he 
exhibits  a  terrible  example  of  the  unfitness  even  of 
conquering  genius  for  unbridled  and  irresponsible 
power.  That  lesson  has  had  to  be  repeated,  even 
down  to  the  days  of  the  Great  Napoleon. 

Now,  if  the  justice  of  plaguing  a  nation  for  the  offence 
of  its  head  be  questioned,  let  us  ask  first  whether 
the  nation  accepts  his  despotism,  honours  him,  and  is 
content  to  regard  him  as  its  chief  and  captain.  Accord¬ 
ing  to  the  principles  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
whoever  thinks  a  tyrant  enviable,  has  already  himself 
tyrannised  with  him  in  his  heart.  Do  we  ourselves, 
then,  never  sympathise  with  political  audacity,  bold 
and  unscrupulous  li  resource,”  success  that  is  bought 
at  the  price  of  strange  compliances,  and  compromises, 
and  wrongs  to  other  men  ? 

The  great  national  lesson  is  now  to  be  taught  to 
Israel  that  the  most  splendid  imperial  force  will  be 
brought  to  an  account  for  its  treatment  of  the  humblest 
— that  there  is  a  God  Who  judges  in  the  earth.  And 
they  were  bidden  to  apply  in  their  own  land  this  ex¬ 
perience  of  their  own,  dealing  kindly  with  the  stranger  in 
the  midst  of  them,  u  for  thou  wast  a  stranger  in  the  land 
of  Egypt.”  That  lesson  we  have  partly  learned,  who 
have  broken  the  chain  of  our  slaves.  But  how  much 
have  we  left  undone  !  The  subject  races  wrere  never 
given  into  our  hands  to  supplant  them,  as  we  have 


16  TIIE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 

supplanted  the  Red  Indian  and  the  New  Zealander, 
nor  to  debauch,  as  men  say  we  are  corrupting  the 
African  and  the  Hindoo,  but  to  raise,  instruct  and 
Christianise.  And  if  the  subjects  of  a  despotism  are 
accountable  for  the  actions  of  rulers  whom  they  tolerate, 
how  much  more  are  we  ?  What  ought  we  to  infer, 
from  this  old-world  history,  of  the  profound  responsi¬ 
bilities  of  all  free  citizens  ? 

We  attain  a  principle  which  reaches  far  into  the 
spiritual  world,  when  we  reflect  that  if  evil  deeds  of  a 
ruler  can  justly  draw  down  vengeance  upon  his  people, 
the  converse  also  must  hold  good.  Reverse  the  case 
before  us.  Let  the  kingdom  be  that  of  the  noblest 
and  purest  virtue.  Let  no  subject  ever  be  coerced  to 
enter  it,  nor  to  remain  one  hour  longer  than  while  his 
adoring  loyalty  consents.  And  shall  not  these  subjects 
be  the  better  for  the  virtues  of  the  Monarch  whom  they 
love  ?  Is  it  mere  caprice  to  say  that  in  choosing  such 
a  King  they  do,  in  a  very  real  sense,  appropriate  the 
goodness  they  crown  ?  If  it  be  natural  that  Egypt 
be  scourged  for  the  sins  of  Pharaoh,  is  it  palpably 
incredible  that  Christ  is  made  of  God  unto  His  people 
wisdom  and  righteousness  and  sanctification  and  re¬ 
demption  ?  The  doctrine  of  imputation  can  easily  be 
so  stated  as  to  become  absurd.  But  the  imputation 
of  which  St.  Paul  speaks  much  can  only  be  denied 
when  we  are  prepared  to  assail  the  principle  on  which 
all  bodies  of  men  are  treated,  families  and  nations  as 
well  as  the  Church  of  God. 

It  was  the  jealous  cruelty  of  Pharaoh  which  drew 
dow:n  upon  his  country  the  very  perils  he  laboured 
to  turn  away.  There  was  no  ground  for  his  fear 
of  any  league  with  foreigners  against  him.  Pro¬ 
sperous  and  unambitious,  the  people  would  have 


i.  7-22.] 


THE  OPPRESSION. 


*7 


remained  well  content  beside  the  flesh-pots  of  Egypt, 
for  which  they  sighed  even  when  emancipated  from 
heavy  bondage  and  eating  the  bread  of  heaven.  Or 
else,  if  they  had  gone  forth  in  peace,  from  a  land 
whose  hospitality  had  not  failed,  to  their  inheritance 
in  Canaan,  they  would  have  become  an  allied  nation 
upon  the  side  where  the  heaviest  blows  were  afterwards 
struck  by  the  Asiatic  powers.  Cruelty  and  cunning 
could  not  retain  them,  but  it  could  decimate  a  popula¬ 
tion  and  lose  an  army  in  the  attempt.  And  this  law 
prevails  in  the  modern  world.  England  paid  twenty 
millions  to  set  her  bondmen  free.  Because  America 
would  not  follow  her  example,  she  ultimately  paid  the 
more  terrible  ransom  of  civil  war.  For  the  same  God 
was  in  Jamaica  and  in  Florida  as  in  the  field  of  Zoan. 
Nor  was  there  ever  yet  a  crooked  policy  which  did  not 
recoil  either  upon  its  author,  or  upon  his  successors 
when  he  had  passed  away.  In  this  case  it  fulfilled 
the  plans  and  the  prophecies  of  God,  and  the  wrath 
of  man  was  made  to  praise  Him. 

There  is  independent  reason  for  believing  that  at 
this  period  one-third  at  least  of  the  population  of 
Egypt  was  of  alien  blood  (Brugsch,  History ,  ii.  100). 
A  politician  might  fairly  be  alarmed,  especially  if  this 
were  the  time  when  the  Hittites  were  threatening 
the  eastern  frontier,  and  had  reduced  Egypt  to  stand 
on  the  defensive,  and  erect  barrier  fortresses.  And 
the  circumstances  of  the  country  made  it  very  easy  to 
enslave  the  Hebrews.  If  any  stain  of  Oriental  indif¬ 
ference  to  the  rights  of  the  masses  had  mingled  with 
the  God-given  insight  of  Joseph,  when  he  made  his 
benefactor  the  owner  of  all  the  soil,  the  Egyptian 
people  were  fully  avenged  upon  him  now.  For  this 
arrangement  laid  his  pastoral  race  helpless  at  their 


2 


is 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


oppressor’s  feet.  Forced  labour  quickly  degenerates 
into  slavery,  and  men  who  find  the  story  of  their 
misery  hard  to  credit  should  consider  the  state  of  France 
before  the  Revolution,  and  of  the  Russian  serfs  before 
their  emancipation.  Their  wretchedness  was  probably 
as  bitter  as  that  of  the  Hebrews  at  any  period  but  the 
last  climax  of  their  oppression.  And  they  owed  it  to 
the  same  cause — the  absolute  ownership  of  the  land  by 
others,  too  remote  from  them  to  be  sympathetic,  to 
take  due  account  of  their  feelings,  to  remember  that 
they  were  their  fellow-men.  This  was  enough  to  slay 
compassion,  even  without  the  aggravation  of  dealing 
with  an  alien  and  suspected  race. 

Now,  it  is  instructive  to  observe  these  reappearances 
of  wholesale  crime.  They  warn  us  that  the  utmost 
achievements  of  human  wickedness  are  human  still  ; 
not  wild  and  grotesque  importations  by  a  fiend,  origi 
nated  in  the  abyss,  foreign  to  the  world  we  live  in. 
Satan  finds  the  material  for  his  master-strokes  in  the 
estrangement  of  class  from  class,  in  the  drying  up  of 
the  fountains  of  reciprocal  human  feeling,  in  the  failure 
of  real,  fresh,  natural  affection  in  our  bosom  for  those 
who  differ  widely  from  us  in  rank  or  circumstances. 
All  cruelties  are  possible  when  a  man  does  not  seem 
to  us  really  a  man,  nor  his  woes  really  woeful.  For 
when  the  man  has  sunk  into  an  animal  it  is  only  a 
step  to  his  vivisection. 

Nor  does  anything  tend  to  deepen  such  perilous 
estrangement,  more  than  the  very  education,  culture 
and  refinement,  in  which  men  seek  a  substitute  for 
religion  and  the  sense  of  brotherhood  in  Christ.  It 
is  quite  conceivable  that  the  tyrant  who  drowned  the 
Hebrew  infants  was  an  affectionate  father,  and  pitied 
his  nobles  when  their  children  died.  But  his  sym- 


i.  7-22.] 


THE  OPPRESSION. 


19 


pathies  could  not  reach  beyond  the  barriers  of  a  caste. 
Do  our  sympathies  really  overleap  such  barriers  ? 
Would  God  that  even  His  Church  believed  aright  in 
the  reality  of  a  human  nature  like  our  own,  soiled, 
sorrowful,  shamed,  despairing,  drugged  into  that 
apathetical  insensibility  which  lies  even  below  despair, 
vet  aching  still,  in  ten  thousand  bosoms,  in  every  great 
city  of  Christendom,  every  day  and  every  night  ! 
Would  to  God  that  she  understood  what  Jesus  meant, 
when  He  called  one  lost  creature  by  the  tender  name 
which  she  had  not  yet  forfeited,  saying,  “  Woman,  where 
are  thine  accusers?”  and  when  He  asked  Simon,  who 
scorned  such  another,  “Seest  thou  this  woman!”  Would 
God  that  when  she  prays  for  the  Holy  Spirit  of  Jesus 
she  would  really  seek  a  mind  like  His,  not  only  in 
piety  and  prayerfulness,  but  also  in  tender  and  heart¬ 
felt  brotherhood  with  all,  even  the  vilest  of  the  weary 
and  heavy-laden  ! 

Many  great  works  of  ancient  architecture,  the 
pyramids  among  the  rest,  were  due  to  the  desire  of 
crushing,  by  abject  toil,  the  spirit  of  a  subject  people. 
We  cannot  ascribe  to  Hebrew  labour  any  of  the  more 
splendid  piles  of  Egyptian  masonry,  but  the  store  cities 
or  arsenals  which  they  built  can  be  identified.  They 
are  composed  of  such  crude  brick  as  the  narrative 
describes  ;  and  the  absence  of  straw  in  the  later  portion 
of  them  can  still  be  verified.  Rameses  was  evidently 
named  after  their  oppressor,  and  this  strengthens  the 
conviction  that  we  are  reading  of  events  in  the  nineteenth 
dynasty,  when  the  shepherd  kings  had  recently  been 
driven  out,  leaving  the  eastern  frontier  so  weak  as  to 
demand  additional  fortresses,  and  so  far  depopulated  as 
to  give  colour  to  the  exaggerated  assertion  of  Pharaoh, 
the  people  are  more  and  mightier  than  we.”  It  is  by 


20 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


such  exaggerations  and  alarms  that  all  the  worst  crimes 
of  statesmen  have  been  justified  to  consenting  peoples. 
And  we,  when  we  carry  what  seems  to  us  a  rightful 
object,  by  inflaming  the  prejudice  and  misleading  the 
judgment  of  other  men,  are  moving  on  the  same 
treacherous  and  slippery  inclines.  Probably  no  evil 
is  committed  without  some  amount  of  justification, 
which  the  passions  exaggerate,  while  they  ignore  the 
prohibitions  of  the  law. 

How  came  it  to  pass  that  the  fierce  Hebrew  blood, 
which  was  yet  to  boil  in  the  veins  of  the  Maccabees,  and 
to  give  battle,  not  unworthily,  to  the  Roman  conquerors 
of  the  wrorld,  failed  to  resent  the  cruelties  of  Pharaoh  ? 

Partly,  of  course,  because  the  Jewish  people  was 
only  now  becoming  aware  of  its  national  existence ; 
but  also  because  it  had  forsaken  God.  Its  religion,  if 
not  supplanted,  wras  at  least  adulterated  by  the  influence 
of  the  mystic  pantheism  and  the  stately  ritual  which 
surrounded  them. 

Joshua  bade  his  victorious  followers  to  “put  away  the 
gods  whom  your  fathers  served  beyond  the  River  and 
in  Egypt,  and  serve  ye  the  Lord  V  (Josh.  xxiv.  14). 
And  in  Ezekiel  the  Lord  Himself  complains,  “  They 
rebelled  against  Me  and  would  not  hearken  unto  Me; 
they  did  not  cast  away  the  abominations  of  their  eyes, 
neither  did  they  forsake  the  idols  of  Egypt"  (Ezek. 
xx.  8). 

Now,  there  is  nothing  which  enfeebles  the  spirit 
and  breaks  the  courage  like  religious  dependence.  A 
strong  priesthood  always  means  a  feeble  people,  most 
of  all  when  they  are  of  different  blood.  And  Israel 
was  now  dependent  on  Egypt  alike  for  the  highest  and 
lowest  needs — grass  for  the  cattle  and  religion  for  the 
soul.  And  when  they  had  sunk  so  low,  it  is  evident 


i.7-22.] 


THE  OPPRESSION. 


21 


that  their  emancipation  had  to  be  wrought  for  them 
entirely  without  their  help.  From  first  to  last  they 
were  passive,  not  only  for  want  of  spirit  to  help  them¬ 
selves,  but  because  the  glory  of  any  exploit  of  theirs 
might  have  illuminated  some  false  deity  whom  they 
adored. 

Standing  still,  they  saw  the  salvation  of  God,  and 
it  was  not  possible  to  give  His  glory  to  another. 

For  this  cause  also,  judgment  had,  first  of  all,  to  be 
wrought  upon  the  gods  of  Egypt. 

In  the  meantime,  without  spirit  enough  to  resist, 
the}''  saw  complete  destruction  drawing  nearer  to  them 
by  successive  strides.  At  first  Pharaoh  “  dealt  wisely 
with  them,"  and  they  found  themselves  entrapped  into 
a  hard  bondage  almost  unawares.  But  a  strange  power 
upheld  them,  and  the  more  they  were  afflicted  the  more 
they  multiplied  and  spread  abroad.  In  this  they  ought 
to  have  discerned  a  divine  support,  and  remembered  the 
promise  to  Abraham  that  God  would  multiply  his  seed 
as  the  stars  of  heaven.  It  may  have  helped  them  pre¬ 
sently  to  “  cry  unto  the  Lord.”  And  the  Egyptians  were 
not  merely  11  grieved  ”  because  of  them  :  they  felt  as 
the  Israelites  afterwards  felt  towards  that  monotonous 
diet  of  which  they  used  the  same  word,  and  said,  “our 
soul  loatheth  this  light  bread.”  Here  it  expresses  that 
fierce  and  contemptuous  attitude  which  the  Californian 
and  Australian  are  now  assuming  toward  the  swarms 
of  Chinamen  whose  labour  is  so  indispensable,  yet 
the  infusion  of  whose  blood  into  the  population  is 
so  hateful.  Then  the  Egyptians  make  their  service 
rigorous,  and  their  lives  bitter. 

And  at  last  that  happens  which  is  a  part  of  every 
downward  course :  the  veil  is  dropped ;  what  men  have 
done  by  stealth,  and  as  if  they  would  deceive  them- 


22 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


selves,  they  soon  do  consciously,  avowing  to  their 
conscience  what  at  first  they  could  not  face.  Thus 
Pharaoh  began  by  striving  to  check  a  dangerous  popu¬ 
lation  ;  and  ended  by  committing  wholesale  murder. 
Thus  men  become  drunkards  through  conviviality, 
thieves  through  borrowing  what  they  mean  to  restore, 
and  hypocrites  through  slightly  overstating  what  they 
really  feel.  And,  since  there  are  nice  gradations  in 
evil,  down  to  the  very  last,  Pharaoh  will  not  yet  avow 
publicly  the  atrocity  which  he  commands  a  few  humble 
women  to  perpetrate ;  decency  is  with  him,  as  it  is 
often,  the  last  substitute  for  a  conscience. 

Among  the  agents  of  God  for  the  shipwreck  of  all 
full-grown  wrongs,  the  chief  is  the  revolt  of  human 
nature,  since,  fallen  though  we  know  ourselves  to  be, 
the  image  of  God  is  not  yet  effaced  in  us.  The  better 
instincts  of  humanity  are  irrepressible — most  so, perhaps 
among  the  poor.  It  is  by  refusing  to  trust  its  intuitions 
that  men  grow  vile ;  and  to  the  very  last  that  refusal 
is  never  absolute,  so  that  no  villainy  can  reckon  upon 
its  agents,  and  its  agents  cannot  always  reckon  upon 
themselves.  Above  all,  the  heart  of  every  woman  is 
in  a  plot  against  the  wrong;  and  as  Pharaoh  was  after¬ 
wards  defeated  by  the  ingenuity  of  a  mother  and  the 
sympathy  of  his  own  daughter,  so  his  first  scheme  was 
spoiled  by  the  disobedience  of  the  mid  wives,  themselves 
Idebrews,  upon  whom  he  reckoned. 

Let  us  not  fear  to  avow7  that  these  women,  wdiom 
God  rewarded,  lied  to  the  king  when  he  reproached 
them,  since  their  answer,  even  if  it  w7ere  not  unfounded, 
wras  palpably  a  misrepresentation  of  the  facts.  The 
reward  was  not  for  their  falsehood,  but  for  their 
humanity.  They  lived  when  the  notion  of  martyrdom 
for  an  avow7al  so  easy  to  evade  wras  utterly  unknown. 


i.  7-22.] 


THE  OPPRESSION, 


23 


Abraham  lied  to  Abimelech.  Both  Samuel  and  David 
equivocated  with  Saul.  We  have  learned  better  things 
from  the  King  of  truth,  Who  was  born  and  came  into 
the  world  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth.  We  know 
that  the  martyr’s  bold  protest  against  unrighteousness 
is  the  highest  vocation  of  the  Church,  and  is  rewarded 
in  the  better  country.  But  they  knew  nothing  of  this, 
and  their  service  was  acceptable  according  as  they  had, 
not  according  as  they  had  not.  As  well  might  we 
blame  the  patriarchs  for  having  been  slave-owners,  and 
David  for  having  invoked  mischief  upon  his  enemies, 
as  these  women  for  having  fallen  short  of  the  Christian 
ideal  of  veracity.  Let  us  beware  lest  we  come  short 
of  it  ourselves.  And  let  us  remember  that  the  way 
of  the  Church  through  time  is  the  path  of  the  just, 
beset  with  mist  and  vapour  at  the  dawn,  but  shining 
more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day. 

In  the  meantime,  God  acknowledges,  and  Holy 
Scripture  celebrates,  the  service  of  these  obscure  and 
lowly  heroines.  Nothing  done  for  Him  goes  unrewarded. 
To  slaves  it  was  written  that  “From  the  Lord  ye  shall 
receive  the  reward  of  the  inheritance :  ye  serve  the 
Lord  Christ”  (Col.  iii.  24).  And  what  these  women 
saved  for  others  was  wdiat  was  recompensed  to  them¬ 
selves,  domestic  happiness,  family  life  and  its  joys. 
God  made  them  houses. 

The  king  is  now  driven  to  avow  himself  in  a  public 
command  to  drown  all  the  male  infants  of  the  Hebrew's  ; 
and  the  people  become  his  accomplices  by  obeying  him. 
For  this  they  were  yet  to  experience  a  terrible  retri¬ 
bution,  when  there  was  not  a  house  in  Eg}'pt  that  had 
not  one  dead. 

The  features  of  the  king  to  whom  these  atrocities 
are  pretty  certainly  brought  home  are  still  to  be  seen 


24 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


in  the  museum  at  Boulak.  Seti  I.  is  the  most  beautiful 
of  all  the  Egyptian  monarchs  whose  faces  lie  bare  to 
the  eyes  of  modern  sightseers ;  and  his  refined  features, 
intelligent,  high-bred  and  cheerful,  resemble  wonderfully, 
yet  surpass,  those  of  Rameses  II.,  his  successor,  from 
whom  Moses  fled.  This  is  the  builder  of  the  vast 
and  exquisite  temple  of  Amon  at  Thebes,  the  grandeur 
of  which  is  amazing  even  in  its  ruins ;  and  his  culture 
and  artistic  gifts  are  visible,  after  all  these  centuries, 
upon  his  face.  It  is  a  strange  comment  upon  the  modern 
doctrine  that  culture  is  to  become  a  sufficient  substi¬ 
tute  for  religion.  And  his  own  record  of  his  exploits 
is  enough  to  show  that  the  sense  of  beauty  is  not  that 
of  pity  :  he  is  the  jackal  leaping  through  the  land  of  his 
enemies,  the  grim  lion,  the  powerful  bull  with  sharpened 
horns,  who  has  annihilated  the  peoples. 

There  is  no  greater  mistake  than  to  suppose  that 
artistic  refinement  can  either  inspire  morality  or  replace 
it.  Have  we  quite  forgotten  Nero,  and  Lucretia  Borgia, 
and  Catherine  de  Medici  ? 

Many  civilisations  have  thought  little  of  infant  life. 
Ancient  Rome  would  have  regarded  this  atrocity  as 
lightly  as  modern  China,  as  we  may  see  by  the  absolute 
silence  of  its  literature  concerning  the  murder  of  the 
innocents — an  event  strangely  parallel  with  this  in  its 
nature  and  political  motives,  and  in  the  escape  of  one 
mighty  Infant. 

Is  it  conceivable  that  the  same  indifference  should 
return,  if  the  sanctions  of  religion  lose  their  power? 
Every  one  remembers  the  callousness  of  Rousseau. 
Strange  things  are  being  written  by  pessimistic  un¬ 
belief  about  the  bringing  of  more  sufferers  into  the 
world.  And  a  living  writer  in  France  has  advocated 
the  legalising  of  infanticide,  and  denounced  .St.  Vincent 


i  7-22.] 


THE  OPPRESSION. 


25 


de  Paul  because,  "  thanks  to  his  odious  precautions,  this 
man  deferred  for  years  the  death  of  creatures  without 
intelligence,”  etc.* 

It  is  to  the  faith  of  Jesus,  not  only  revealing  by  the 
light  of  eternity  the  value  of  every  soul,  but  also 
replenishing  the  fountains  of  human  tenderness  that 
had  well-nigh  become  exhausted,  that  wTe  owe  our 
modern  love  of  children.  In  the  very  helplessness 
which  the  ancient  masters  of  the  world  exposed  to 
destruction  without  a  pang,  we  see  the  type  of  what 
we  must  ourselves  become,  if  we  would  enter  heaven. 
But  we  cannot  afford  to  forget  either  the  source  or  the 
sanctions  of  the  lesson. 


*  J.  K.  Fuysmans — quoted  in  Nineteenth  Century ,  May  1888, 

p.  673- 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  RESCUE  OF  MOSES. 
ii.  I -io. 

E  have  said  that  the  Old  Testament  history 


V  V  teems  with  political  wisdom,  lessons  of  perma¬ 
nent  instruction  for  mankind,  on  the  level  of  this  life, 
yet  godly,  as  all  true  lessons  must  be,  in  a  world  of 
which  Christ  is  King.  These  our  religion  must  learn 
to  recognise  and  proclaim,  if  it  is  ever  to  win  the 
respect  of  men  of  affairs,  and  ‘Heaven  the  whole  lump” 
of  human  life  with  sacred  influence. 

Such  a  lesson  is  the  importance  of  the  individual  in 
the  history  of  nations.  History,  as  read  in  Scripture, 
is  indeed  a  long  relation  of  heroic  resistance  or  of  base 
compliance  in  the  presence  of  influences  which  are  at 
work  to  debase  modern  peoples  as  well  as  those  of  old. 
The  holiness  of  Samuel,  the  gallant  faith  of  David,  the 
splendour  and  wisdom  of  Solomon,  the  fervid  zeal  of 
Elijah,  the  self-respecting  righteousness  of  Nehemiah, 
— ignore  these,  and  the  whole  course  of  affairs  becomes 
vague  and  unintelligible.  Most  of  all  this  is  true  of 
Moses,  whose  appearance  is  now  related. 

In  profane  history  it  is  the  same.  Alexander, 
Mahomet,  Luther,  William  the  Silent,  Napoleon, — will 
any  one  pretend  that  Europe  uninfluenced  by  these  per¬ 
sonalities  would  have  become  the  Europe  that  we  know? 


ii.  i-io.] 


THE  RESCUE  OF  HOSES. 


27 


And  this  truth  is  not  at  all  a  speculative,  unpractical 
theory :  it  is  vital.  For  now  there  is  a  fashion  01 
speaking  about  the  tendency  of  the  age,  the  time-spirit, 
as  an  irresistible  force  which  moulds  men  like  potters' 
clay,  crowning  those  who  discern  and  help  it,  but 
grinding  to  powder  all  who  resist  its  course.  In  reality 
there  are  always  a  hundred  time-spirits  and  tendencies 
competing  for  the  mastery — some  of  them  violent, 
selfish,  atheistic,  or  luxurious  (as  we  see  with  our  own 
eyes  to-day) — and  the  shrewdest  judges  are  continually 
at  fault  as  to  which  of  them  is  to  be  victorious,  and 
recognised  hereafter  as  the  spirit  of  the  age. 

This  modern  pretence  that  men  are  nothing,  and 
streams  of  tendency  are  all,  is  plainly  a  gospel  of 
capitulations,  of  falsehood  to  one's  private  convictions, 
and  of  servile  obedience  to  the  majority  and  the 
popular  cry.  For,  if  individual  men  are  nothing,  what 
am  I  ?  If  we  are  all  bubbles  floating  down  a  stream, 
it  is  folly  to  strive  to  breast  the  current.  Much  practical 
baseness  and  servility  is  due  to  this  base  and  servile 
creed.  And  the  cure  for  it  is  belief  in  another  spirit 
than  that  of  the  present  age,  trust  in  an  inspiring  God, 
who  rescued  a  herd  of  slaves  and  their  fading  convic¬ 
tions  from  the  greatest  nation  upon  earth  by  matching 
one  man,  shrinking  and  reluctant  yet  obedient  to  his 
mission,  against  Pharaoh  and  all  the  tendencies  of  the 
age. 

And  it  is  always  so.  God  turns  the  scale  of  events 
by  the  vast  weight  of  a  man,  faithful  and  true,  and 
sufficiently  aware  of  Him  to  refuse,  to  universal  clamour, 
the  surrender  of  his  liberty  or  his  religion.  In  small 
matters,  as  in  great,  there  is  no  man,  faithful  to  a 
lonely  duty  or  conviction,  understanding  that  to  have 
discerned  it  is  a  gift  and  a  vocation,  but  makes  the  world 


28 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


better  and  stronger,  and  works  out  part  of  the  answer 
to  that  great  prayer  “  Thy  will  be  done.” 

We  have  seen  already  that  the  religion  of  the 
Hebrews  in  Egypt  was  corrupted  and  in  danger  of 
being  lost.  To  this  process,  however,  there  must  have 
been  bright  exceptions  ;  and  the  mother  of  Moses  bore 
witness,  by  her  very  name,  to  her  fathers’  God.  The 
first  syllable  of  Jochebed  is  proof  that  the  name  of 
God,  which  became  the  keynote  of  the  new  revelation, 
was  not  entirely  new. 

As  yet  the  parents  of  Moses  are  not  named  ;  nor  is 
there  any  allusion  to  the  close  relationship  which  would 
have  forbidden  their  union  at  a  later  period  (chap, 
vi.  20).  And  throughout  all  the  story  of  his  youth  and 
early  manhood  there  is  no  mention  whatever  of  God 
or  of  religion.  Elsewhere  it  is  not  so.  The  Epistle  tc 
the  Hebrews  declares  that  through  faith  the  babe  was 
hidden,  and  through  faith  the  man  refused  Egyptian 
rank.  Stephen  tells  us  that  he  expected  his  brethren 
to  know  that  God  by  his  hand  was  giving  them  deliver¬ 
ance.  But  the  narrative  in  Exodus  is  wholly  untheo- 
logical.  If  Moses  were  the  author,  we  can  see  why  he 
avoided  reflections  which  directly  tended  to  glorify 
himself.  But  if  the  story  w7ere  a  subsequent  invention, 
why  is  the  tone  so  cold,  the  light  so  colourless  ? 

Now,  it  is  wTell  that  vTe  are  invited  to  look  at  all 
these  things  from  their  human  side,  observing  the  play 
of  human  affection,  innocent  subtlety,  and  pity.  God 
commonly  works  through  the  heait  and  brain  which 
He  has  given  us,  and  we  do  net  glorify  Him  at  all  by 
ignoring  these.  If  in  this  case  there  were  visible  a 
desire  to  suppress  the  human  agents,  in  favour  of  the 
Divine  Preserver,  we  might  suppose  that  a  different 
historian  would  have  given  a  less  wonderful  account 


ii.  i-io,] 


THE  RESCUE  OF  MOSES . 


25 


of  the  plagues,  the  crossing  of  the  Sea,  and  the  revela¬ 
tion  from  Sinai.  But  since  full  weight  is  allowed  to 
second  causes  in  the  early  life  of  Moses,  the  story 
is  entitled  to  the  greater  credit  when  it  tells  of  the 
burning  bush  and  the  flaming  mountain. 

Let  us,  however,  put  together  the  various  narratives 
and  their  lessons.  At  the  outset  we  read  of  a  marriage 
celebrated  between  kinsfolk,  when  the  storm  of  perse¬ 
cution  was  rising.  And  hence  we  infer  that  courage 
or  strong  affection  made  the  parents  worthy  of  him 
through  whom  God  should  show  mercy  unto  thousands. 
The  first  child  was  a  girl,  and  therefore  safe ;  but  we 
may  suppose,  although  silence  in  Scripture  proves 
little,  that  Aaron,  three  years  before  the  birth  of  Moses, 
had  not  come  into  equal  peril  with  him.  Moses  was 
therefore  born  just  when  the  last  atrocity  was  devised, 
when  trouble  was  at  its  height. 

“  At  this  time  Moses  wTas  born/'  said  Stephen.  Edi¬ 
fying  inferences  have  been  drawn  from  the  statement 
in  Exodus  that  u  the  woman  .  .  .  hid  him."  Perhaps 
the  stronger  man  quailed,  but  the  maternal  instinct  wras 
not  at  fault,  and  it  was  rewarded  abundantly.  From 
which  we  only  learn,  in  reality,  not  to  overstrain  the 
words  of  Scripture  ;  since  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
distinctly  says  that  he  “  was  hid  three  months  by  his 
parents  " — both  of  them,  while  naturally  the  mother  is 
the  active  agent. 

All  the  accounts  agree  that  he  was  thus  hidden, 
0  because  they  saw  that  he  was  a  goodly  child  "  (Heb. 
xi.  23).  It  is  a  pathetic  phrase.  We  see  them,  before 
the  crisis,  vaguely  submitting  in  theory  to  an  unrealised 
atrocity,  ignorant  how  imperiously  their  nature  would 
forbid  the  crime,  not  planning  disobedience  in  advance, 
nor  led  to  it  by  any  reasoning  process.  All  is  changed 


3o 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


when  the  little  one  gazes  at  them  with  that  marvellous 
appeal  in  its  unconscious  eyes,  which  is  known  to 
every  parent,  and  helps  him  to  be  a  better  man.  There 
is  a  great  difference  between  one’s  thought  about  an 
infant,  and  one’s  feeling  towards  the  actual  baby. 
He  was  their  child,  their  beautiful  child  ;  and  this  it 
was  that  turned  the  scale.  For  him  they  would  now 
dare  anything,  “  because  they  saw  he  wTas  a  gocdly 
child,  and  they  were  not  afraid  of  the  king’s  command¬ 
ment.”  Now,  impulse  is  often  a  great  power  for  evil, 
as  when  appetite  or  fear,  suddenly  taking  visible  shape, 
overwhelms  the  judgment  and  plunges  men  into  guilt. 
But  good  impulses  may  be  the  very  voice  of  God, 
stirring  whatever  is  noble  and  generous  within  us. 
Nor  are  they  accidental  :  loving  and  brave  emotions 
belong  to  warm  and  courageous  hearts ;  they  come 
of  themselves,  like  song  birds,  but  they  come  surely 
where  sunshine  and  still  groves  invite  them,  not  into 
clamour  and  foul  air.  Thus  arose  in  their  bosoms  the 
sublime  thought  of  God  as  an  active  power  to  be 
reckoned  upon.  For  as  certainly  as  every  bad  passion 
that  we  harbour  preaches  atheism,  so  does  all  goodness 
tend  to  sustain  itself  by  the  consciousness  of  a  supreme 
Goodness  in  reserve.  God  had  sent  them  their  beauti¬ 
ful  child,  and  who  was  Pharaoh  to  forbid  the  gift  ? 
And  so  religion  and  natural  pity  joined  hands,  their 
supreme  convictions  and  their  yearning  for  their  infant. 
“  By  faith  Moses  was  hid  .  .  .  because  they  saw  he  was 
a  goodly  child,  and  they  were  not  afraid  of  the  king’s 
commandment.” 

Such,  if  wre  desire  a  real  and  actual  salvation,  is 
always  the  faith  which  saves.  Postpone  salvation  to 
an  indefinite  future;  make  it  no  more  than  the  escape 
from  vaguely  realised  penalties  for  sins  which  do  not 


ii.  I-IO.]  THE  RESCUE  CF  MOSES.  31 

seem  very  hateful  ;  and  you  may  suppose  that  faith  in 
theories  can  obtain  this  indulgence;  an  opinion  may 
weigh  against  a  misgiving.  But  feel  that  sin  is  not 
only  likely  to  entail  damnation,  but  is  really  and  in 
itself  damnable  meanwhile,  and  then  there  will  be 
no  deliverance  possible,  but  from  the  hand  of  a  divine 
Friend,  strong  to  sustain  and  willing  to  guide  the  life. 
We  read  that  Amram  lived  a  hundred  and  thirty  and 
seven  years,  and  of  all  that  period  we  only  know  that 
he  helped  to  save  the  deliverer  of  his  race,  by  practical 
faith  which  made  him  not  afraid,  and  did  not  paralyse 
but  stimulate  his  energies. 

When  the  mother  could  no  longer  hide  the  child, 
she  devised  the  plan  which  has  made  her  for  ever 
famous.  She  placed  him  in  a  covered  ark,  or  casket,* 
plaited  (after  what  we  know  to  have  been  the  Egyptian 
fashion)  of  the  papyrus  reed,  and  rendered  watertight 
with  bitumen,  and  this  she  laid  among  the  rushes — a 
lower  vegetation,  which  would  not,  like  the  tall  papyrus, 
hide  her  treasure — in  the  well-known  and  secluded 
place  where  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh  used  to  bathe. 
Something  in  the  known  character  of  the  princess  may 
have  inspired  this  ingenious  device  to  move  her  pity  ; 
but  it  is  more  likely  that  the  woman’s  heart,  in  her 
extremity,  prompted  a  simple  appeal  to  the  woman 
who  could  help  her  if  she  would.  For  an  Egyptian 
princess  was  an  important  personage,  with  an  establish¬ 
ment  of  her  own,  and  often  possessed  of  much  political 
influence.  The  most  sanguinary  agent  of  a  tyrant 
would  be  likely  to  respect  the  client  of  such  a  patron. 


*  The  same  word  is  used  for  Noah's  ark,  but  not  elsewhere;  not, 
for  example,  of  the  ark  in  the  Temple,  the  name  of  which  occurs  else¬ 
where  in  Scripture  only  of  the  “  coffin  ”  of  Joseph,  and  the  “chest’' 
for  the  Temple  revenues  (Gen.  1.  26;  2  Chron.  vxiv.  8,  10,  11). 


32 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


The  heart  of  every  woman  was  in  a  plot  against  the 
cruelty  of  Pharaoh.  Once  already  the  midwives  had 
defeated  him ;  and  now,  when  his  own  daughter# 
unexpectedly  found,  in  the  water  at  her  very  feet,  a 
beautiful  child  sobbing  silently  (for  she  knew  not  what 
was  there  until  the  ark  was  opened),  her  indignation 
is  audible  enough  in  the  words,  “This  is  one  of  the 
Hebrews’  children.”  She  means  to  say  “  This  is  only 
one  specimen  of  the  outrages  that  are  going  on.” 

This  was  the  chance  for  his  sister,  who  had  been 
set  in  ambush,  not  prepared  with  the  exquisite  device 
which  follows,  but  simply  11  to  know  what  would 
be  done  to  him.”  Clearly  the  mother  had  reckoned 
upon  his  being  found,  and  neglected  nothing,  although 
unable  herself  to  endure  the  agony  of  watching,  or  less 
easily  hidden  in  that  guarded  spot.  And  her  prudence 
had  a  rich  reward.  Hitherto  Miriam’s  duty  had  been  to 
remain  passive — that  hard  task  so  often  imposed  upor 
the  affection,  especially  of  women,  by  sickbeds,  and  also 
in  many  a  more  stirring  hazard,  and  many  a  spiritual 
crisis,  where  none  can  fight  his  brother’s  battle.  It  is 
a  trying  time,  when  love  can  only  hold  its  breath,  and 
pray.  But  let  not  love  suppose  that  to  watch  is  to  do 
nothing.  Often  there  comes  a  moment  when  its  word, 
made  wise  by  the  teaching  of  the  heart,  is  the  all-import¬ 
ant  consideration  in  deciding  mighty  issues. 

This  girl  sees  the  princess  at  once  pitiful  and  em¬ 
barrassed,  for  how  can  she  dispose  of  her  strange 
charge?  Let  the  moment  pass,  and  the  movement  of 
her  heart  subside,  and  all  may  be  lost ;  but  Miriam 
is  prompt  and  bold,  and  asks  “  Shall  I  go  and  call  to 
thee  a  nurse  of  the  Hebrew  women,  that  she  may  nurse 
the  child  for  thee  ?  ”  It  is  a  daring  stroke,  for  the 


•  Or  his  sister,  the  daughter  of  a  former  Pharoah. 


ii.  I  - 1 0. 3 


THE  RESCUE  OF  MOSES. 


33 


princess  must  have  understood  the  position  thoroughly, 
the  moment  the  eager  Hebrew  girl  stepped  forward. 
The  disguise  was  very  thin.  And  at  least  the  heart 
which  pitied  the  infant  must  have  known  the  mother 
when  she  saw  her  face,  pale  with  longing.  It  is  there¬ 
fore  only  as  a  form,  exacted  by  circumstances,  but  well 
enough  though  tacitly  understood  upon  both  sides, 
that  she  bids  her  nurse  the  child  for  her,  and  promises 
wages.  What  reward  could  equal  that  of  clasping 
her  child  to  her  own  agitated  bosom  in  safety,  while 
the  destroyers  were  around  ? 

This  incident  teaches  us  that  good  is  never  to  be 
despaired  of,  since  this  kindly  woman  grew  up  in  the 
family  of  the  persecutor. 

And  the  promptitude  and  success  of  Miriam  suggest 
a  reflection.  Men  do  pity,  when  it  is  brought  home 
to  them,  the  privation,  suffering,  and  wrong,  which 
lie  around.  Magnificent  sums  are  contributed  yearly 
for  their  relief  by  the  generous  instincts  of  the  world. 
The  misfortune  is  that  sentiment  is  evoked  only  by 
visible  and  pathetic  griefs,  and  that  it  will  not  labour 
as  readily  as  it  will  subscribe.  It  is  a  harder  task  to 
investigate,  to  devise  appeals,  to  invent  and  work  the 
machinery  by  which  misery  may  be  relieved.  Mere 
compassion  will  accomplish  little,  unless  painstaking 
affection  supplement  it.  Who  supplies  that?  Who 
enables  common  humanity  to  relieve  itself  by  simply 
paying  il  wages,”  and  confiding  the  wretched  to  a  pains¬ 
taking,  laborious,  loving  guardian  ?  The  streets  would 
never  have  known  Hospital  Saturday,  but  for  Hospital 
Sunday  in  the  churches.  The  orphanage  is  wholly  a 
Christian  institution.  And  so  is  the  lady  nurse.  The 
old-fashioned  phrase  has  almost  sunk  into  a  party  cry, 
but  in  a  large  and  noble  sense  it  will  continue  to  be 

3 


34 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


true  to  nature  as  long  as  bereavement,  pain  or  peni¬ 
tence  requires  a  tender  bosom  and  soothing  touch, 
which  speaks  of  Mother  Church. 

Thus  did  God  fulfil  His  mysterious  plans.  And 
according  to  a  sad  but  noble  law,  which  operates 
widely,  what  was  best  in  Egypt  worked  with  Him  for 
the  punishment  of  its  own  evil  race.  The  daughter  of 
Pharaoh  adopted  the  perilous  foundling,  and  educated 
him  in  the  wisdom  of  Egypt. 

THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES. 
ii.  11-15. 

God  works  even  His  miracles  by  means.  As  He 
fed  the  multitude  with  barley-loaves,  so  He  wrould 
emancipate  Israel  by  human  agency.  It  was  therefore 
necessary  to  educate  one  of  the  trampled  race  “  in  all 
the  learning  of  Egypt/'  and  Moses  was  planted  in  the 
court  of  Pharaoh,  like  the  German  Arminius  in  Rome. 
Wonderful  legends  may  be  read  in  Josephus  of  his 
heroism,  his  wisdom,  and  his  victories ;  and  these  have 
some  foundation  in  reality,  for  Stephen  tells  us  that 
he  was  mighty  in  his  words  and  works.  Might  in 
wrords  need  not  mean  the  fluent  utterance  which  he 
so  earnestly  disclaimed  (iv.  10),  even  if  forty  years’ 
disuse  of  the  language  were  not  enough  to  explain  his 
later  diffidence.  It  may  have  meant  such  power  of 
composition  as  appears  in  the  hymn  by  the  Red  Sea, 
and  in  the  magnificent  valediction  to  his  people. 

The  point  is  that  among  a  nation  originally  pastoral, 
and  now  sinking  fast  into  the  degraded  animalism  of 
slaves,  which  afterwards  betrayed  itself  in  their  com¬ 
plaining  greed,  their  sighs  for  the  generous  Egyptian 
dietary,  and  their  impure  carouse  under  the  mountain, 
one  man  should  possess  the  culture  and  mental  grasp 


w  •  .  ^ 

11. 11-15] 


THE  CHOICE  OP  MOSES. 


35 


needed  by  a  leader  and  lawgiver.  u  Could  not  the 
grace  cf  God  have  supplied  the  place  of  endowment 
and  attainment?"  Yes,  truly;  and  it  was  quite  as 
likely  to  do  this  for  one  who  came  down  from  His 
immediate  presence  with  his  face  intolerably  bright, 
as  for  the  last  impudent  enthusiast  who  declaims 
against  the  need  of  education  in  sentences  which  at 
least  prove  that  for  him  the  want  has  by  no  substitute 
been  completely  met.  But  the  grace  of  God  chose 
to  give  the  qualification,  rather  than  replace  it,  alike  to 
Moses  and  St.  Paul.  Nor  is  there  any  conspicuous 
example  among  the  saints  of  a  man  being  thrust  into  4 
a  rank  for  which  he  was  not  previously  made  fit. 

The  painful  contrast  between  his  own  refined  tastes 
and  habits,  and  the  coarser  manners  of  his  nation,  was 
no  doubt  one  difficulty  of  the  choice  of  Moses,  and  a 
lifelong  trial  to  him  afterwards.  He  is  an  example  not 
only  to  those  whom  wealth  and  power  would  entangle, 
but  to  any  who  are  too  fastidious  and  sensitive  for  the 
humble  company  of  the  people  of  God. 

While  the  intellect  of  Moses  was  developing,  it  is 
plain  that  his  connection  with  his  family  was  not 
entirely  broken.  Such  a  tie  as  often  binds  a  foster- 
child  to  its  nurse  may  have  been  permitted  to  associate 
him  with  his  real  parents.  Some  means  wrere  evidently 
found  to  instruct  him  in  the  history  and  messianic 
hopes  of  Israel,  for  he  knew  that  their  reproach  was 
that  of  u  the  Christ,"  greater  riches  than  all  the  treasure 
of  Egypt,  and  fraught  with  a  reward  for  which  he  looked 
in  faith  (Heb.  xi.  2 6).  But  what  is  meant  by  naming 
as  part  of  his  burden  their  “  reproach,"  as  distinguished 
from  their  sufferings  ? 

We  shall  understand,  if  we  reflect,  that  his  open 
rupture  with  Egypt  was  unlikely  to  be  the  work  of  a 


36 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


moment.  Like  all  the  best  workers,  he  was  led  forward 
gradually,  at  first  unconscious  of  his  vocation.  Many 
a  protest  he  must  have  made  against  the  cruel  and 
unjust  policy  that  steeped  the  land  in  innocent  blood. 
Many  a  jealous  councillor  must  have  known  how  to 
weaken  his  dangerous  influence  by  some  cautious  taunt, 
some  insinuated  “reproach"  of  his  own  Hebrew  origin. 
The  warnings  put  by  Josephus  into  the  lips  of  the 
priests  in  his  childhood,  were  likely  enough  to  have 
been  spoken  by  some  one  before  he  was  forty  years 
old.  At  last,  when  driven  to  make  his  choice,  he 
“refused  to  be  called  the  son  of  Pharaoh’s  daughter,"  a 
phrase,  especially  in  its  reference  to  the  rejected  title  as 
distinguished  from  “  the  pleasures  of  sin,"  which  seems 
to  imply  a  more  formal  rupture  than  Exodus  records. 

We  saw  that  the  piety  of  his  parents  was  not  un¬ 
helped  by  their  emotions  :  they  hid  him  by  faith  when 
they  saw  that  he  was  a  goodly  child.  Such  was  also  the 
faith  by  which  Moses  broke  with  rank  and  fortune.  He 
went  cut  unto  his  brethren,  and  looked  on  their  burdens, 
and  he  saw  an  Egyptian  smiting  an  Hebrew,  one  of 
his  brethren.  Twice  the  word  of  kinship  is  repeated  ; 
and  Stephen  tells  us  that  Moses  himself  used  it  in 
rebuking  the  dissensions  of  his  fellow-countrymen. 
Filled  with  yearning  and  pity  for  his  trampled  brethren, 
and  with  the  shame  of  generous  natures  who  are  at 
ease  while  others  suffer,  he  saw  an  Egyptian  smiting 
an  Hebrew.  With  that  blended  caution  and  vehemence 
which  belong  to  his  nation  still,  he  looked  and  saw 
that  there  was  no  man,  and  slew  the  Egyptian.  Like 
most  acts  of  passion,  this  was  at  once  an  impulse  of  the 
moment,  and  an  outcome  of  long  gathering  forces  — 
just  as  the  lightning  flash,  sudden  though  it  seem,  has 
been  prepared  by  the  accumulated  electricity  of  weeks. 


ii*  ii-iS  ] 


THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES. 


37 


And  this  is  the  reason  why  God  allows  the  issues  of 
a  lifetime,  perhaps  of  an  eternity,  to  be  decided  by  a 
sudden  word,  a  hasty  blow.  Men  plead  that  if  time  had 
been  given,  they  would  have  stifled  the  impulse  which 
ruined  them.  But  what  gave  the  impulse  such  violent 
and  dreadful  force  that  it  overwhelmed  them  before 
they  could  reflect  ?  The  explosion  in  the  coal-mine  is 
not  caused  by  the  sudden  spark,  without  the  accumula¬ 
tion  of  dangerous  gases,  and  the  absence  of  such 
wholesome  ventilation  as  would  carry  them  away.  It 
is  so  in  the  breast  where  evil  desires  or  tempers  are 
harboured,  unsubdued  by  grace,  until  any  accident 
puts  them  beyond  control.  Thank  God  that  such 
sudden  movements  do  not  belong  to  evil  only !  A  high 
soul  is  surprised  into  heroism,  as  often  perhaps  as  a 
mean  one  into  theft  or  falsehood.  In  the  case  of 
Moses  there  was  nothing  unworthy,  but  much  that  was 
unwarranted  and  presumptuous.  The  decision  it  in¬ 
volved  was  on  the  right  side,  but  the  act  was  self-willed 
and  unwarranted,  and  it  carried  heavy  penalties.  11  The 
trespass  originated  not  in  inveterate  cruelty/'  says 
St.  Augustine,  “  but  in  a  hasty  zeal  which  admitted  of 
correction  .  .  .  resentment  against  injury  was  accom¬ 
panied  by  love  for  a  brother.  .  .  .  Here  was  evil  to  be 
rooted  out,  but  the  heart  with  such  capabilities,  like 
good  soil,  needed  only  cultivation  to  make  it  fruitful  in 
virtue." 

Stephen  tells  us,  what  is  very  natural,  that  Moses 
expected  the  people  to  accept  him  as  their  heaven-born 
deliverer.  From  which  it  appears  that  he  cherished 
high  expectations  for  himself,  from  Israel  if  not  from 
Egypt.  When  he  interfered  next  day  between  two 
Hebrews,  his  question  as  given  in  Exodus  is  somewhat 
magisterial :  “  Wherefore  smitest  thou  thy  fellow  ? 11  In 


3S 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


Stephen’s  version  it  dictates  less,  but  it  lectures  a  good 
deal :  u  Sirs,  ye  are  brethren,  why  do  ye  wrong  one  to 
another  ?  ”  And  it  was  natural  enough  that  they  should 
dispute  his  pretensions,  for  God  had  not  yet  given 
him  the  rank  he  claimed.  He  still  needed  a  discipline 
almost  as  sharp  as  that  of  Joseph,  who,  by  talking  too 
boastfully  of  his  dreams,  postponed  their  fulfilment 
until  he  was  chastened  by  slavery  and  a  dungeon. 
Even  Saul  of  Tarsus,  wdien  converted,  needed  three 
years  of  close  seclusion  for  the  transformation  of  his 
fiery  ardour  into  divine  zeal,  as  iron  to  be  tempered  must 
be  chilled  as  well  as  heated.  The  precipitate  and  violent 
zeal  of  Moses  entailed  upon  him  forty  years  of  exile. 

And  yet  his  was  a  noble  patriotism.  There  is  a 
false  love  of  country,  born  of  pride,  which  blinds  one 
to  her  faults ;  and  there  is  a  loftier  passion  which  will 
brave  estrangement  and  denunciation  to  correct  them. 
Such  was  the  patriotism  of  Moses,  and  of  all  whom 
God  has  ever  truly  called  to  lead  their  fellows.  Never¬ 
theless  he  had  to  suffer  for  his  error. 

His  first  act  had  been  a  kind  of  manifesto,  a  claim  to 
lead,  which  he  supposed  that  they  would  have  under¬ 
stood  ;  and  yet,  when  he  found  his  deed  was  known, 
he  feared  and  fled.  His  false  step  told  against  him. 
One  cannot  but  infer  also  that  he  was  conscious  of 
having  already  forfeited  court  favour — that  he  had 
before  this  not  only  made  his  choice,  but  announced  it, 
and  knew  that  the  blow  was  ready  to  fall  on  him  at 
any  provocation.  We  read  that  he  dwelt  in  the  land 
of  Midian,  a  name  which  wras  applied  to  various  tracts 
according  to  the  nomadic  wanderings  of  the  tribe,  but 
which  plainly  included,  at  this  time,  some  part  of  the 
peninsula  formed  by  the  tongues  of  the  Red  Sea.  For, 
as  he  fed  his  flocks,  he  came  to  the  Mount  of  God. 


if.  16-22.] 


MOSES  IN  MID  IAN. 


39 


MOSES  IN  MIDIAN. 
ii.  16-22. 

The  interference  of  Moses  on  behalf  of  the  daughters 
of  the  priest  of  Midian  is  a  pleasant  trait,  courteous, 
and  expressive  of  a  refined  nature.  With  this  remark, 
and  reflecting  that,  like  many  courtesies,  it  brought  its 
reward,  we  are  often  content  to  pass  it  by.  And  yet  it 
deserves  a  closer  examination. 

I.  For  it  expresses  great  energy  of  character.  He 
might  well  have  been  in  a  state  of  collapse.  He  had 
smitten  the  Egyptian  for  Israel’s  sake  :  he  had  appealed 
to  his  own  people  to  make  common  cause,  like  brethren, 
against  the  common  foe  ;  and  he  had  offered  himself 
to  them  as  their  destined  leader  in  the  struggle.  But 
they  had  refused  him  the  command,  and  he  was  rudely 
awakened  to  the  consciousness  that  his  life  wras  in 
danger  through  the  garrulous  ingratitude  of  the  man 
he  rescued.  Now  he  was  a  ruined  man  and  an  exile, 
marked  for  destruction  by  the  greatest  of  earthly 
monarchs,  with  the  habits  and  tastes  of  a  great  noble, 
but  homeless  among  wild  races. 

It  was  no  common  nature  which  was  alert  and  ener¬ 
getic  at  such  a  time.  The  greatest  men  have  known 
a  period  of  prostration  in  calamity  :  it  was  enough 
for  honour  that  they  should  rally  and  re-collect  their 
forces.  Thinking  of  Frederick,  after  Kunersdorr, 
resigning  the  command  (“  I  have  no  resources  more, 
and  will  not  survive  the  destruction  of  my  country  ”), 
and  of  his  subsequent  despatch,  “  I  am  now  recovered 
from  my  illness  ” ;  and  of  Napoleon,  trembling  and 
weeping  on  the  road  to  Elba,  one  turns  with  fresh 
admiration  to  the  fallen  prince,  the  baffled  liberator, 
sitting  exhausted  by  the  well,  but  as  keen  on  behalf 


40 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


of  liberty  as  when  Pharaoh  trampled  Israel,  though 
now  the  oppressors  are  a  group  of  rude  herdsmen,  and 
the  oppressed  are  Midianite  women,  driven  from  the 
troughs  which  they  have  toiled  to  fill.  One  remembers 
Another,  sitting  also  exhausted  by  the  well,  defying 
social  usage  on  behalf  of  a  despised  woman,  and 
thereby  inspired  and  invigorated  as  with  meat  to  eat 
which  His  followers  knew  not  of. 

2.  Moreover  there  is  disinterested  bravery  in  the 
act,  since  he  hazards  the  opposition  of  the  men  of  the 
land,  among  whom  he  seeks  refuge,  on  behalf  of  a 
group  from  which  he  can  have  expected  nothing.  And 
here  it  is  worth  while  to  notice  the  characteristic 
variations  in  three  stories  which  have  certain  points  of 
contact.  The  servant  of  Abraham,  servant-like,  was 
well  content  that  Rebekah  should  draw  for  all  his 
camels,  while  he  stood  still.  The  prudent  Jacob, 
anxious  to  introduce  himself  to  his  cousin,  rolled  away 
the  stone  and  watered  her  camels.  Moses  sat  by  the 
well,  but  did  not  interfere  while  the  troughs  were  being 
filled  :  it  was  only  the  overt  wrong  which  kindled  him. 
But  as  in  great  things,  so  it  is  in  small  :  our  actions 
never  stand  alone ;  having  once  befriended  them,  he 
will  do  it  thoroughly,  “  and  moreover  he  drew  water 
for  us,  and  watered  the  flock.”  Such  details  could 
hardly  have  been  thought  out  by  a  fabricator;  a  legend 
would  not  have  allowed  Moses  to  be  slower  in  courtesy 
than  Jacob  ;  *  but  the  story  fits  the  case  exactly:  his 
eyes  were  with  his  heart,  and  that  was  far  away,  until 
the  injustice  of  the  shepherds  roused  him. 


*  Nor  would  it  have  made  the  women  call  their  deliverer  “an 
Egyptian,”  for  the  Hebrew  cast  of  features  is  very  dissimilar.  But 
Moses  wore  Egyptian  dress,  and  the  Egyptians  worked  mines  in  the 
peninsula,  so  that  he  was  naturally  taken  for  one  of  them. 


ii.  16-22.]  MOSES  IN  MW  IAN  41 

And  why  was  Moses  thus  energetic,  fearless,  and 
chivalrous  ?  Because  he  was  sustained  by  the  presence 
of  the  Unseen  :  he  endured  as  seeing  Him  who  is  in¬ 
visible;  and  having,  despite  of  panic,  by  faith  forsaken 
Egypt,  he  was  free  from  the  absorbing  anxieties 
which  prevent  men  from  caring  for  their  fellows,  free 
also  from  the  cynical  misgivings  which  suspect  that 
violence  is  more  than  justice,  that  to  be  righteous 
overmuch  is  to  destroy  oneself,  and  that  perhaps,  after 
all,  one  may  see  a  good  deal  of  wrong  without  being 
called  upon  to  interfere.  It  would  be  a  different  world 
to-day,  if  all  who  claim  to  be  “  the  salt  of  the  earth  ” 
w*ere  as  eager  to  repress  injustice  in  its  smaller  and 
meaner  forms  as  to  make  money  or  influential  friends. 
If  all  petty  and  cowardly  oppression  were  sternly 
trodden  down,  we  should  soon  have  a  state  of  public 
opinion  in  which  gross  and  large  tyranny  would  be 
almost  impossible.  And  it  is  very  doubtful  whether 
the  flagrant  wrongs,  which  must  be  comparatively  rare, 
cause  as  much  real  mental  suffering  as  the  frequent  small 
ones.  Does  mankind  suffer  more  from  wild  beasts  than 
from  insects  ?  But  how  few  that  aspire  to  emancipate 
oppressed  nations  would  be  content,  in  the  hour  of 
their  overthrow,  to  assert  the  rights  of  a  handful  of 
women  against  a  trifling  fraud,  to  which  indeed  they 
were  so  well  accustomed  that  its  omission  surprised 
their  father ! 

Is  it  only  because  we  are  reading  a  history,  and  not 
a  biography,  that  we  find  no  touch  of  tenderness,  like 
the  love  of  Jacob  for  Rachel,  in  the  domestic  relations 
of  Moses  ? 

Joseph  also  married  in  a  strange  land,  yet  he  called 
the  name  of  his  first  son  Manasseh,  because  God  had 
made  him  to  forget  his  sorrows:  but  Moses  remembered 


42 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


his.  Neither  wife  nor  child  could  charm  away  his 
home  sickness  ;  he  called  his  firstborn  Gershom,  because 
he  was  a  sojourner  in  a  strange  land.  In  truth,  his 
whole  life  seems  to  have  been  a  lonely  one.  Miriam 
is  called  “  the  sister  of  Aaron  ”  even  when  joining  in 
the  song  of  Moses  (xv.  20),  and  with  Aaron  she  made 
common  cause  against  their  greater  brother  (Num. 
xii.  1-2).  Zipporah  endangered  his  life  rather  than 
obey  the  covenant  of  circumcision ;  she  complied  at 
last  with  a  taunt  (iv.  24-6),  and  did  not  again  join 
him  until  his  victory  over  Amalek  raised  his  position 
to  the  utmost  height  (xviii.  2). 

His  children  are  of  no  account,  and  his  grandson 
is  the  founder  of  a  dangerous  and  enduring  schism 
(Judges  xviii.  30,  R.V.). 

There  is  much  reason  to  see  here  the  earliest  example 
of  the  sad  rule  that  a  prophet  is  not  without  honour 
save  in  his  own  house ;  that  the  law  of  compensations 
reaches  farther  into  life  than  men  suppose ;  and  high 
position  and  great  powers  are  too  often  counterbalanced 
by  the  isolation  of  the  heart. 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  BURNING  BUSH, 


ii.  23 — iiL 

11  T  N  process  of  time  the  king  of  Egypt  died,”  pro- 

X  bahly  the  great  Raamses,  no  other  of  whose 
dynasty  had  a  reign  which  extended  over  the  indicated 
period  of  time.  If  so,  he  had  while  living  every  reason 
to  expect  an  immortal  fame,  as  the  greatest  among 
Egyptian  kings,  a  hero,  a  conqueror  on  three  con¬ 
tinents,  a  builder  of  magnificent  works.  But  he  has 
only  won  an  immortal  notoriety.  “  Every  stone  in 
his  buildings  was  cemented  in  human  blood.”  The 
cause  he  persecuted  has  made  deathless  the  banished 
refugee,  and  has  gibbeted  the  great  monarch  as  a 
tyrant,  whose  misplanned  severities  wrought  the  ruin 
of  his  successor  and  his  army.  Such  are  the  reversals 
of  popular  judgment :  and  such  the  vanity  of  fame. 
For  all  the  contemporary  fame  was  his. 

“  The  children  of  Israel  sighed  by  reason  of  the 
bondage,  and  they  cried.”  Another  monarch  had 
come  at  last,  a  change  after  sixty-seven  years,  and  yet 
no  change  for  them  !  It  filled  up  the  measure  of  their 
patience,  and  also  of  the  iniquity  of  Egypt.  We  are 
not  told  that  their  cry  was  addressed  to  the  Lord ; 
what  we  read  is  that  it  reached  Him,  Who  still  over¬ 
hears  and  pities  many  a  sob,  many  a  lament,  which 


44 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


ought  to  have  been  addressed  to  Him,  and  is  not. 
Indeed,  if  His  compassion  were  not  to  reach  men  until 
they  had  remembered  and  prayed  to  Him,  who  among 
us  would  ever  have  learned  to  pray  to  Him  at  all  ? 
Moreover  He  remembered  His  covenant  with  their 
forefathers,  for  the  fulfilment  of  which  the  time  had 
now  arrived.  11  And  God  saw  the  children  of  Israel, 
and  God  took  knowledge  of  them.” 

These  were  not  the  cries  of  rel'gious  individuals, 
but  of  oppressed  masses.  It  is  therefore  a  solemn 
question  to  ask  How  many  such  appeals  ascend  from 
Christian  England  ?  Behold,  the  hire  of  labourers  .  .  . 
held  back  by  fraud  crieth  out.  The  half-paid  slaves  of 
our  haste  to  be  rich,  and  the  victims  of  our  drinking 
institutions,  and  of  hideous  vices  which  entangle  and 
destroy  the  innocent  and  unconscious,  what  cries  to 
heaven  are  theirs !  As  surely  as  those  which  St. 
James  records,  these  have  entered  into  the  ears  of  the 
Lord  of  Sabaoth.  Of  these  sufferers  every  one  is  His 
own  by  purchase,  most  of  them  by  a  covenant  and 
sacrament  more  solemn  than  bound  Him  to  His  ancient 
Israel.  Surely  He  hears  their  groaning.  And  all 
whose  hearts  are  touched  with  compassion,  yet  who 
hesitate  whether  to  bestir  themselves  or  to  remain 
inert  while  evil  is  masterful  and  cruel,  should  re¬ 
member  the  anger  of  God  when  Moses  said,  “  Send,  I 
pray  Thee,  by  whom  Thou  wilt  send."  The  Lord  is 
not  indifferent.  Much  less  than  other  sufferers  should 
those  who  know  God  be  terrified  by  their  afflictions. 
Cyprian  encouraged  the  Church  of  his  time  to  endure 
even  unto  martyrdom,  by  the  words  recorded  of 
ancient  Israel,  that  the  more  they  afflicted  them,  so 
much  the  more  they  became  greater  and  waxed 
stronger.  And  he  was  right.  For  all  these  things 


••  « ^  •••  *1 
11. 23-111.  ] 


THE  BURNING  BUSH. 


45 


happened  to  them  for  ensamples,  and  were  written  for 
our  admonition. 

It  is  further  to  be  observed  that  the  people  were 
quite  unconscious,  until  Moses  announced  it  after¬ 
wards,  that  the}'  were  heard  by  God.  Yet  their 
deliverer  had  now  been  prepared  by  a  long  process  for 
his  work.  We  are  not  to  despair  because  relief  does 
not  immediately  appear :  though  He  tarry,  we  are  to 
wait  for  Him. 

While  this  anguish  was  being  endured  in  Egypt, 
Moses  was  maturing  for  his  destiny.  Self-reliance, 
pride  of  place,  hot  and  impulsive  aggressiveness,  were 
dying  in  his  bosom.  To  the  education  of  the  courtier 
and  scholar  was  now  added  that  of  the  shepherd  in 
the  wilds,  amid  the  most  solemn  and  awful  scenes  of 
nature,  in  solitude,  humiliation,  disappointment,  and,  as 
we  learn  from  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  in  enduring 
faith.  Wordsworth  has  a  remarkable  description  of 
the  effect  of  a  similar  discipline  upon  the  good  Lord 
Clifford.  He  tells — 

41  How  he,  long  forced  in  humble  paths  to  go, 

Was  softened  into  feeling,  soothed  and  tamed. 

“Love  had  he  found  in  huts  where  poor  men  lie, 

His  daily  teachers  had  been  woods  and  rills, 

The  silence  that  is  in  the  starry  sky, 

The  sleep  that  is  among  the  lonely  hills. 

“  In  him  the  savage  virtues  of  the  race, 

Revenge,  and  all  ferocious  thoughts,  were  dead ; 

Nor  did  he  change,  but  kept  in  lofty  place 
The  wisdom  which  adversity  had  bred.” 

There  was  also  the  education  of  advancing  age,  which 
teaches  many  lessons,  and  among  them  two  which 
are  essential  to  leadership, — the  folly  of  a  hasty  blow, 
and  of  impulsive  reliance  upon  the  support  of  mobs. 


46 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


Moses  the  man-slayer  became  exceeding  meek;  and  he 
ceased  to  rely  upon  the  perception  of  his  people  that 
God  by  him  would  deliver  them.  His  distrust,  indeed, 
became  as  excessive  as  his  temerity  had  been,  but  it 
was  an  error  upon  the  safer  side.  “Behold,  they  will 
not  believe  rne,”  he  says,  “  nor  hearken  unto  my  voiced* 
It  is  an  important  truth  that  in  very  few  lives  the 
decisive  moment  comes  just  when  it  is  expected.  Men 
allow  themselves  to  be  self-indulgent,  extravagant  and 
even  wicked,  often  upon  the  calculation  that  their 
present  attitude  matters  little,  and  they  will  do  very 
differently  when  the  crisis  arrives,  the  turning-point 
in  their  career  to  nerve  them.  And  they  waken  up 
with  a  start  to  find  their  career  already  decided,  their 
character  moulded.  As  a  snare  shall  the  day  of  the 
Lord  come  upon  all  flesh ;  and  as  a  snare  come  all 
His  great  visitations  meanwhile.  When  Herod  was 
drinking  among  bad  companions,  admiring  a  shame¬ 
less  dancer,  and  boasting  loudly  of  his  generosity,  he 
was  sobered  and  saddened  to  discover  that  he  had 
laughed  away  the  life  of  his  only  honest  adviser. 
Moses,  like  David,  was  “  following  the  ewes  great 
with  young,’*  when  summoned  by  God  to  rule  His 
I  cople  Israel.  Neither  did  the  call  arrive  when  he 
was  plunged  in  moody  reverie  and  abstraction,  sighing 
over  his  lost  fortunes  and  his  defeated  aspirations, 
rebelling  against  his  lowly  duties.  The  humblest 
labour  is  a  preparation  for  the  brightest  revelations, 
whereas  discontent,  however  lofty,  is  a  preparation 
for  nothing.  Thus,  too,  the  birth  of  Jesus  was  first 
announced  to  shepherds  keeping  watch  over  their 
flock.  Yet  hundreds  of  third-rate  young  persons  in 
every  city  in  this  land  to-day  neglect  their  work,  and 
unfit  themselves  for  any  insight,  or  any  leadership 


THE  BURNING  BUSH 


47 


iii.  2.] 

whatever,  by  chafing  against  the  obscurity  of  their 
vocation. 

Who  does  not  perceive  that  the  career  of  Moses 
hitherto  was  divinely  directed  ?  The  fact  that  we  feel  this, 
although,  until  now,  God  has  not  once  been  mentioned 
in  his  personal  story,  is  surely  a  fine  lesson  for  those 
who  have  only  one  notion  of  what  edifies — the  dragging 
of  the  most  sacred  names  and  phrases  into  even  the 
most  unsuitable  connections.  In  truth,  such  a  phraseo¬ 
logy  is  much  less  attractive  than  a  certain  tone,  a 
recognition  of  the  unseen,  which  may  at  times  be  more 
consistent  with  reverential  silence  than  with  obtrusive 
utterance.  It  is  enough  to  be  ready  and  fearless  when 
the  fitting  time  comes,  which  is  sure  to  arrive,  for  the 
religious  heart  as  for  this  narrative — the  time  for  the 
natural  utterance  of  the  great  word,  God. 

We  read  that  the  angel  of  the  Lord  appeared  to 
him — a  remarkable  phrase,  which  was  already  used  in 
connection  with  the  sacrifice  of  Isaac  (Gen.  xxii.  11). 
How  much  it  implies  will  better  be  discussed  in  the 
twenty-third  chapter,  where  a  fuller  statement  is  made. 
For  the  present  it  is  enough  to  note,  that  this  is  one 
pre-eminent  angel,  indicated  by  the  definite  article  ;  that 
he  is  clearly  the  medium  of  a  true  divine  appearance, 
because  neither  the  voice  nor  form  of  any  lesser  being  is 
supposed  to  be  employed,  the  appearance  being  that  of 
fire,  and  the  words  being  said  to  be  the  direct  utterance 
of  the  Lord,  not  of  any  one  who  says,  Thus  saith  the 
Lord.  We  shall  see  hereafter  that  the  story  of  the 
Exodus  is  unique  in  this  respect,  that  in  training  a 
people  tainted  with  Egyptian  superstitions,  no  ‘  simili¬ 
tude'  is  seen,  as  when  there  wrestled  a  man  with  Jacob, 
or  when  Ezekiel  saw  a  human  form  upon  the  sapphire 
pavement. 


48 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


Man  is  the  true  image  of  God,  and  His  perfect 
revelation  was  in  flesh.  But  now  that  expression  of 
Himself  wras  perilous,  and  perhaps  unsuitable  besides  ; 
for  He  wras  to  be  known  as  the  Avenger,  and  presently 
As  the  Giver  of  Law,  with  its  inflexible  conditions  and 
its  menaces.  Therefore  He  appeared  as  fire,  w7hich  is 
intense  and  terrible,  even  when  “  the  flame  of  the  grace 
of  God  does  not  consume,  but  illuminates.” 

There  is  a  notion  that  religion  is  languid,  repressive, 
and  unmanly.  But  such  is  not  the  scriptural  idea.  In 
His  presence  is  the  fulness  of  joy.  Christ  has  come 
that  we  might  have  life,  and  might  have  it  more  abund¬ 
antly.  They  who  are  shut  out  from  His  blessedness 
are  said  to  be  asleep  and  dead.  And  so  Origen  quotes 
this  passage  among  others,  with  the  comment  that  “  As 
God  is  a  fire,  and  His  angels  a  flame  of  fire,  and  all 
the  saints  fervent  in  spirit,  so  they  who  have  fallen 
awray  from  God  are  said  to  have  cooled,  or  to  have 
become  cold  ”  ( De  Principe  ii.  8).  A  revelation  by  fire 
involves  intensity. 

There  is  indeed  another  explanation  of  the  burning 
bush,  w7hich  makes  the  flame  express  only  the  afflic¬ 
tions  that  did  not  consume  the  people.  But  this  would 
be  a  strange  adjunct  to  a  divine  appearance  for  their 
deliverance,  speaking  rather  of  the  continuance  of 
suffering  than  of  its  termination,  for  which  the  extinc¬ 
tion  of  such  fire  w7ould  be  a  more  appropriate  symbol. 

Yet  there  is  an  element  of  truth  even  in  this  view, 
since  fire  is  connected  with  affliction.  In  His  holiness 
God  is  light  (w7ith  which,  in  the  Hebrew,  the  very  word 
for  holiness  seems  to  be  connected) ;  in  His  judgments 
lie  is  fire.  “The  Light  of  Israel  shall  be  for  a  fire, 
and  his  Ho]y  One  for  a  flame,  and  it  shall  burn  and 
devour  his  thorns  and  his  briers  in  one  day  ”  (Isa.  x.  17). 


iii.  2-13.] 


THE  BURNING  BUSH. 


49 


But  God  reveals  Himself  in  this  thorn  bush  as  a  fire 
which  does  not  consume;  and  such  a  revelation  tells  at 
once  Who  has  brought  the  people  into  affliction,  and 
also  that  they  are  not  abandoned  to  it. 

To  Moses  at  first  there  was  visible  only  an  extra¬ 
ordinary  phenomenon  ;  He  turned  to  see  a  great  sight. 
It  is  therefore  out  of  the  question  to  find  here  the  truth, 
so  easy  to  discover  elsewhere,  that  God  rewards  the 
religious  inquirer — that  they  who  seek  after  Him  shall 
find  Him.  Rather  we  learn  the  folly  of  deeming  that 
the  intellect  and  its  inquiries  are  at  war  with  religion 
and  its  n^steries,  that  revelation  is  at  strife  with 
mental  insight,  that  he  who  most  stupidly  refuses  to 
“see  the  great  sights”  of  nature  is  best  entitled  to 
interpret  the  voice  of  God.  When  the  man  of  science 
gives  ear  to  voices  not  of  earth,  and  the  man  of  God 
has  eyes  and  interest  for  the  divine  wonders  which 
surround  us,  many  a  discord  will  be  harmonised.  With 
the  revival  of  classical  learning  came  the  Reformation. 

But  it  often  happens  that  the  curiosity  of  the  in¬ 
tellect  is  in  danger  of  becoming  irreverent,  and  obtrusive 
into  mysteries  not  of  the  brain,  and  thus  the  voice  of  God 
must  speak  in  solemn  warning :  “  Moses,  Moses,  .  .  . 
Draw  not  nigh  hither  :  put  off  thy  shoes  from  off  thy 
feet,  for  the  place  whereon  thou  standest  is  holy 
ground.” 

After  as  prolonged  a  silence  as  from  the  time  of 
Malachi  to  the  Baptist,  it  is  God  Who  reveals  Himself 
once  more — not  Moses  who  by  searching  finds  Him  out. 
And  this  is  the  established  rule.  Tidings  of  the  In¬ 
carnation  came  from  heaven,  or  man  would  not  have 
discovered  the  Divine  Babe.  Jesus  asked  His  two  first 
disciples  u  What  seek  ye  ?  ”  and  told  Simon  “  Thou 
shalt  be  called  Cephas,”  and  pronounced  the  listening 

4 


50 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


Nathaniel  u  an  Israelite  indeed/’  and  bade  Zaccheus 
“make  haste  and  come  down/’  in  each  case  before  He 
was  addressed  by  them. 

The  first  words  of  Jehovah  teach  something  more 
than  ceremonial  reverence.  If  the  dust  of  common 
earth  on  the  slice  of  Moses  may  not  mingle  with  that 
sacred  soil,  how  dare  we  carry  into  the  presence  of  our 
God  mean  passions  and  selfish  cravings  ?  Observe,  too, 
that  while  Jacob,  wrhen  he  awToke  from  his  vision,  said, 
“How  dreadful  is  this  place!”  (Gen.  xxviii.  17),  God 
Himself  taught  Moses  to  think  rather  of  the  holiness 
than  the  dread  of  His  abode.  Nevertheless  Moses  also 
was  afraid  to  look  upon  God,  and  hid  the  face  which 
w?as  thereafter  to  be  veiled,  for  a  nobler  reason,  when 
it  was  itself  illumined  with  the  divine  glory.  Humility 
before  God  is  thus  the  path  to  the  highest  honour, 
and  reverence,  to  the  closest  intercourse. 

Meantime  the  Divine  Person  has  announced  Himself: 
“  I  am  the  God  of  thy  father  ”  (father  is  apparently 
singular  writh  a  collective  force),  “the  God  of  Abraham, 
the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob.”  It  is  a 
blessing  which  every  Christian  parent  should  bequeath 
to  his  child,  to  be  strengthened  and  invigorated  by 
thinking  of  God  as  his  father’s  God. 

It  was  with  this  memorable  announcement  that  Jesus 
refuted  the  Sadducees  and  established  His  doctrine  of 
the  resurrection.  So,  then,  the  bygone  ages  are  not 
forgotten  :  Moses  may  be  sure  that  a  kindly  relation 
exists  between  God  and  himself,  because  the  kindly 
relation  still  exists  in  all  its  vital  force  which  once 
bound  Him  to  those  who  long  since  appeared  to  die. 
It  wras  impossible,  therefore,  our  Lord  inferred,  that  they 
had  really  died  at  all.  The  argument  is  a  forerunner 
of  that  by  which  St.  Paul  concludes,  from  tne  resurrec- 


ni.  2-13.]  THE  BURNING  BUSH.  51 

tion  of  Christ,  that  none  who  are  u  in  Christ  ”  have 
perished.  Nay,  since  our  Lord  was  not  disputing 
about  immortality  only,  but  the  resurrection  of  the 
body,  His  argument  implied  that  a  vital  relationship 
with  God  involved  the  imperishability  of  the  whole 
man,  since  all  was  His,  and  in  truth  the  very  seal  of 
the  covenant  was  imprinted  upon  the  flesh.  How  much 
stronger  is  the  assurance  for  us,  who  knowT  that  our 
very  bodies  are  His  temple !  Now,  if  any  suspicion 
should  arise  that  the  argument,  which  is  really  subtle, 
is  over-refined  and  untrustworthy,  let  it  be  observed 
that  no  sooner  was  this  announcement  made,  than  God 
added  the  proclamation  of  His  own  immutability,  so 
that  it  cannot  be  said  He  was,  but  from  age  to  age 
His  title  is  I  AM.  The  inference  from  the  divine 
permanence  to  the  living  and  permanent  vitality  of  all 
His  relationships  is  not  a  verbal  quibble,  it  is  drawn 
from  the  very  central  truth  of  this  great  scripture. 

And  now  for  the  first  time  God  calls  Israel  My 
people,  adopting  a  phrase  already  twice  employed  by 
earthly  rulers  (Gen.  xxiii.  II,  xli.  40),  and  thus  making 
Himself  their  king  and  the  champion  of  their  cause. 
Often  afterwards  it  was  used  in  pathetic  appeal : — 
li  Thou  hast  showed  Thy  people  hard  things,” — “  Thou 
sellest  Thy  people  for  nought,” — Behold,  look,  we 
beseech  Thee ;  we  are  all  Thy  people  ”  (Ps.  lx.  3, 
xliv.  12;  Isa.  Ixiv.  9).  And  often  it  expressed  the 
returning  favour  of  their  king  :  “  Hear,  O  My  people, 
and  I  will  speak  ” ;  “  Comfort  ye,  comfort  ye  My 
people”  (Ps.  1.  7;  Isa.  xl.  1). 

It  is  used  of  the  nation  at  large,  all  ol  whom  were 
brought  into  the  covenant,  although  with  many  of  them 
God  was  not  well  pleased.  And  since  it  does  not 
belong  only  to  saints,  but  speaks  of  a  grace  which 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


52 


might  be  received  in  vain,  it  is  a  strong  appeal  to  all 
Christian  people,  all  who  are  within  the  New  Coven¬ 
ant.  Them  also  the  Lord  claims  and  pities,  and  would 
gladly  emancipate  :  their  sorrows  also  He  knows.  “  I 
have  surely  seen  the  affliction  of  My  people  which  are 
in  Egypt,  and  have  heard  their  cry  by  reason  of  their 
taskmasters ;  for  I  know  their  sorrows ;  and  I  am  come 
down  to  deliver  them  out  of  the  hand  of  the  Egyptians, 
and  to  bring  them  up  out  of  that  land  unto  a  good  land 
and  a  large,  unto  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey." 
Thus  the  ways  of  God  exceed  the  desires  of  men. 
Their  subsequent  complaints  are  evidence  that  Egypt  had 
become  their  country  :  gladly  would  they  have  shaken 
off  the  iron  yoke,  but  a  successful  rebellion  is  a  revo¬ 
lution,  not  an  Exodus.  Their  destined  home  was  very 
different :  with  the  widest  variety  of  climate,  scenery, 
and  soil,  a  land  which  demanded  much  more  regular 
husbandry,  but  rewarded  labour  with  exuberant  fertility. 
Secluded  from  heathenism  by  deserts  on  the  south  and 
east,  by  a  sublime  range  of  mountains  on  the  north, 
and  by  a  sea  with  few  havens  on  the  west,  yet  planted 
in  the  very  bosom  of  all  the  ancient  civilisation  which 
at  the  last  it  was  to  leaven,  it  was  a  land  where  a 
faithful  people  could  have  dwelt  alone  and  not  been 
reckoned  among  the  nations,  yet  where  the  scourge  for 
disobedience  was  never  far  away. 

Next  after  the  promise  of  this  good  land,  the  com¬ 
mission  of  Moses  is  announced.  He  is  to  act,  because 
God  is  already  active  :  u  I  am  come  down  to  deliver 
them  .  .  .  come  now,  therefore,  and  I  will  send  thee 
unto  Pharaoh,  that  thou  mayest  bring  forth  My  people.” 
And  let  this  truth  encourage  all  who  are  truly  sent  of 
God,  to  the  end  of  time,  that  He  does  not  send  us  to 
deliver  man,  until  He  is  Himself  prepared  to  do  so; 


iii.  2-13.] 


THE  BURNING  BUSH. 


53 


that  when  our  fears  ask,  like  Moses,  Who  am  I,  that  I 
should  go  ?  He  does  not  answer,  Thou  art  capable, 
but  Certainly  I  will  go  with  thee.  So,  wherever  the 
ministry  of  the  word  is  sent,  there  is  a  true  purpose  of 
grace.  There  is  also  the  presence  of  One  who  claims 
the  right  to  bestow  upon  us  the  same  encouragement 
which  was  given  to  Moses  by  Jehovah,  saying,  “  Lo,  I 
am  with  you  alway.”  In  so  saying,  Jesus  made  Him¬ 
self  equal  with  God. 

And  as  this  ancient  revelation  of  God  was  to  give 
rest  to  a  wreary  and  heavy-laden  people,  so  Christ 
bound  together  the  assertion  of  a  more  perfect  revela¬ 
tion,  made  in  Him,  with  the  promise  of  a  grander 
emancipation.  No  man  knoweth  the  Father  save  by 
revelation  of  the  Son  is  the  doctrine  which  introduces 
the  great  offer  11  Come  unto  Me,  all  ye  that  labour 
and  are  heavy-laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest  "  (Matt.  xi. 
27,  28).  The  claims  of  Christ  in  the  New  Testament 
will  never  be  fully  recognised  until  a  careful  study  is 
made  of  His  treatment  of  the  functions  which  in  the 
Old  Testament  are  regarded  as  Divine.  A  curious 
expression  follows  :  "  This  shall  be  a  token  unto  thee 
that  I  have  sent  thee  :  When  thou  hast  brought  forth 
the  people  out  of  Egypt,  ye  shall  serve  God  upon  this 
mountain."  It  seems  but  vague  encouragement,  to 
offer  Moses,  hesitating  at  the  moment,  a  token  which 
could  take  effect  only  when  his  task  was  wrought. 
And  yet  we  know  how  much  easier  it  is  to  believe 
what  is  thrown  into  distinct  shape  and  particularised. 
Our  trust  in  gocd  intentions  is  helped  when  their 
expression  is  detailed  and  circumstantial,  as  a  candidate 
for  office  will  reckon  all  general  assurances  of  support 
much  cheaper  than  a  pledge  to  canvass  certain  electors 
within  a  certain  time.  Such  is  the  constitution  of 


54 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


human  nature ;  and  its  Maker  has  often  deigned  to 
sustain  its  weakness  by  going  thus  into  particulars. 
He  does  the  same  for  us,  condescending  to  embody 
the  most  profound  of  all  mysteries  in  sacramental 
emblems,  clothing  his  promises  of  our  future  blessed¬ 
ness  in  much  detail,  and  in  concrete  figures  which  at 
least  symbolise,  if  they  do  not  literally  describe,  the 
glories  of  the  Jerusalem  which  is  above. 

A  NEW  NAME. 
iii.  14.  vi.  2,  3. 

“  God  said  unto  Moses,  I  am  that  I  am  :  and  He  said,  Thus  shalt 
thou  say  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  I  am  hath  sent  me  unto  you.” 

We  cannot  certainly  tell  why  Moses  asked  for  a 
new  name  by  which  to  announce  to  his  brethren  the 
appearance  of  God.  He  may  have  felt  that  the 
memory  of  their  fathers,  and  of  the  dealings  of  God 
with  them,  had  faded  so  far  out  of  mind  that  merely 
to  indicate  their  ancestral  God  would  not  sufficiently 
distinguish  Him  from  the  idols  of  Egypt,  whose  wor¬ 
ship  had  infected  them. 

If  so,  he  was  fully  answered  by  a  name  which  made 
this  God  the  one  reality,  in  a  world  where  all  is  a 
phantasm  except  what  derives  stability  from  Him. 

He  may  have  desired  to  know,  for  himself,  whether 
there  was  any  truth  in  the  dreamy  and  fascinating 
pantheism  which  inspired  so  much  of  the  Egyptian 
superstition. 

In  that  case,  the  answer  met  his  question  by  declar¬ 
ing  that  God  existed,  not  as  the  sum  of  things  or  soul 
of  the  universe,  but  in  Himself,  the  only  independent 
Being. 

Or  he  may  simply  have  desired  some  name  to 


iii.  14.  vi.  2,  3.] 


A  NEW  NAME. 


55 


express  more  of  the  mystery  of  deity,  remembering 
how  a  change  of  name  had  accompanied  new  dis¬ 
coveries  of  human  character  and  achievement,  as  of 
Abraham  and  Israel;  and  expecting  a  new  name  like¬ 
wise  when  God  would  make  to  His  people  new  revela¬ 
tions  of  Himself. 

So  natural  an  expectation  was  fulfilled  not  only  then, 
but  afterwards.  When  Moses  prayed  "Show  me,  I 
pray  Thee,  Thy  glory,”  the  answer  was  "  I  will  make 
all  My  goodness  pass  before  thee,  and  I  will  proclaim 
the  name  of  the  Lord.”  The  proclamation  was  again 
Jehovah,  but  not  this  alone.  It  was  "The  Lord,  the 
Lord,  a  God  full  of  compassion  and  gracious,  slow 
to  anger,  and  plenteous  in  mercy  and  truth  ”  (xxxiii. 
18,  19,  xxxiv.  6,  R.V.)  Thus  the  life  of  Moses,  like 
the  agelong  progress  of  the  Church,  advanced  towards 
an  ever-deepening  knowledge  that  God  is  not  only 
the  Independent  but  the  Good.  All  sets  toward  the 
final  knowledge  that  His  highest  name  is  Love. 

Meanwhile,  in  the  development  of  events,  the  exact 
period  wTas  come  for  epithets,  which  were  shared  with 
gods  many  and  lords  many,  to  be  supplemented  by 
the  formal  announcement  and  authoritative  adoption 
of  His  proper  name  Jehovah.  The  infant  nation  was 
to  learn  to  think  of  Him,  not  only  as  endowed  with 
attributes  of  terror  and  powrer,  by  which  enemies 
would  be  crushed,  but  as  possessing  a  certain  well- 
defined  personality,  upon  which  the  trust  of  man  could 
repose.  Soon  their  experience  would  enable  them  to 
receive  the  formal  announcement  that  He  was  merciful 
and  gracious.  But  first  they  were  required  to  trust 
His  promise  amid  all  discouragements ;  and  to  this  end, 
stability  was  the  attribute  first  to  be  insisted  upon. 

It  is  true  that  the  derivation  of  the  word  Jehovah  is 


56 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


still  a  problem  for  critical  acumen.  It  has  been  sought 
in  more  than  one  language,  and  various  shades  of 
meaning  have  been  assigned  to  it,  some  untenable  in 
the  abstract,  others  hardly,  or  not  at  all,  to  be  reconciled 
with  the  Scriptural  narrative. 

Nay,  the  corruption  of  the  very  sound  is  so  notorious, 
that  it  is  only  worth  mention  as  illustrating  a  phase  of 
superstition. 

We  smile  at  the  Jews,  removing  the  correct  vowels 
lest  so  holy  a  word  should  be  irreverently  spoken, 
placing  the  sanctity  in  the  cadence,  hoping  that  light 
and  flippant  allusions  may  offend  God  less,  so  long  as 
they  spare  at  least  the  vowels  of  His  name,  and  thus 
preserve  some  vestige  undesecrated,  while  profaning  at 
once  the  conception  of  His  majesty  and  the  consonants 
of  the  mystic  word. 

A  more  abject  superstition  could  scarcely  have  made 
void  the  spirit,  while  grovelling  before  the  letter  of  the 
commandment. 

But  this  very  superstition  is  alive  in  other  forms 
to-day.  Whenever  one  recoils  from  the  sin  of  coarse 
blasphemy,  yet  allows  himself  the  enjoyment  of  a 
polished  literature  which  profanes  holy  conceptions, — 
whenever  men  feel  bound  to  behave  with  external 
propriety  in  the  house  of  God,  yet  bring  thither 
wandering  thoughts,  vile  appetites,  sensuous  imagina¬ 
tions,  and  all  the  chamber  of  imagery  which  is  within 
the  unregenerate  heart, — there  is  the  same  despicable 
superstition  which  strove  to  escape  at  least  the  extreme 
of  blasphemy  by  prudently  veiling  the  Holy  Name 
before  profaning  it. 

But  our  present  concern  is  with  the  practical  message 
conveyed  to  Israel  when  Moses  declared  that  Jehovah, 
1  am,  the  God  of  their  fathers,  had  appeared  unto  him. 


iii.  14.  vi.  2,  3.] 


A  NEW  NAME. 


57 


And  if  we  find  in  it  a  message  suited  for  the  time, 
and  which  is  the  basis,  not  the  superstructure,  both  of 
later  messages  and  also  of  the  national  character,  then 
we  shall  not  fail  to  observe  the  bearing  of  such  facts 
upon  an  urgent  controversy  of  this  time. 

Some  significance  must  have  been  in  that  Name,  not 
too  abstract  for  a  servile  and  degenerate  race  to  appre¬ 
hend.  Nor  was  it  soon  to  pass  away  and  be  replaced  ; 
it  was  His  memorial  throughout  all  generations  ;  and 
therefore  it  has  a  message  for  us  to-day,  to  admonish 
and  humble,  to  invigorate  and  uphold. 

That  God  would  be  the  same  to  them  as  to  their 
fathers  was  much.  But  that  it  was  of  the  essence 
of  His  character  to  be  evermore  the  same,  immutable 
in  heart  and  mind  and  reality  of  being,  however 
their  conduct  might  modify  His  bearing  towards  them, 
this  indeed  would  be  a  steadying  and  reclaiming 
consciousness. 

Accordingly  Moses  receives  the  answer  for  himself, 
“  I  am  that  I  am”;  and  he  is  bidden  to  tell  his  people 
u  I  am  hath  sent  me  unto  you,”  and  yet  again  (l  Jehovah 
the  God  of  your  fathers  hath  sent  me  unto  you.”  The 
spirit  and  tenor  of  these  three  names  may  be  said  to  be 
virtually  comprehended  in  the  first ;  and  they  all  speak 
of  the  essential  and  self-existent  Being,  unchanging 
and  unchangeable. 

I  am  expresses  an  intense  reality  of  being.  No  image 
in  the  dark  recesses  of  Egyptian  or  Syrian  temples, 
grotesque  and  motionless,  can  win  the  adoration  of 
him  who  has  had  communion  with  such  a  veritable 
existence,  or  has  heard  His  authentic  message.  No 
dreamful  pantheism,  on  its  knees  to  the  beneficent 
principle  expressed  in  one  deity,  to  the  destructive  in 
another,  or  to  the  reproductive  in  a  third,  but  all  of 


53 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


them  dependent  upon  nature,  as  the  rainbow  upon  the 
cataract  which  it  spans,  can  ever  again  satisfy  the  soul 
which  is  athirst  for  the  living  God,  the  Lord,  Who 
is  not  personified,  but  is. 

This  profound  sense  of  a  living  Person  within  reach, 
to  be  offended,  to  pardon,  and  to  bless,  was  the  one 
force  which  kept  the  Hebrew  nation  itself  alive,  with 
a  vitality  unprecedented  since  the  world  began.  They 
could  crave  His  pardon,  whatever  natural  retributions 
they  had  brought  down  upon  themselves,  whatever 
tendencies  of  nature  they  had  provoked,  because  He 
was  not  a  dead  law  without  ears  or  a  heart,  but  their 
merciful  and  gracious  God. 

Not  the  most  exquisite  subtleties  of  innuendo  and 
irony  could  make  good  for  a  day  the  monstrous  paradox 
that  the  Hebrew  religion,  the  worship  of  I  am,  was 
really  nothing  but  the  adoration  of  that  stream  of 
tendencies  which  makes  for  righteousness. 

Israel  did  not  challenge  Pharaoh  through  having 
suddenly  discovered  that  goodness  ultimately  prevails 
over  evil,  nor  is  it  any  cold  calculation  of  the  sort 
which  ever  inspires  a  nation  or  a  man  with  heroic 
fortitude.  But  they  were  nerved  by  the  announcement 
that  they  had  been  remembered  by  a  God  Who  is  neither 
an  ideal  nor  a  fancy,  but  the  Reality  of  realities,  beside 
Whom  Pharaoh  and  his  host  were  but  as  phantoms. 

I  am  that  i  am  is  the  style  not  only  of  permanence, 
but  of  permanence  self-contained,  and  being  a  dis¬ 
tinctive  title,  it  denies  such  self-contained  permanence 
to  others. 

Man  is  as  the  past  has  moulded  him,  a  compound 
of  attainments  and  failures,  discoveries  and  disillusions, 
his  eyes  dim  with  forgotten  tears,  his  hair  grey  with 
surmounted  anxieties,  his  brow  furrowed  with  bygone 


lii.  14.  vi.  2,  3.] 


A  NEW  NAME. 


59 


studies,  his  conscience  troubled  with  old  sin.  Modern 
unbelief  Is  ignobly  frank  respecting  him.  He  is  the 
sum  of  his  parents  and  his  wet-nurse.  He  is  what  he 
eats.  If  he  drinks  beer,  he  thinks  beer.  And  it  is 
the  element  of  truth  in  these  hideous  paradoxes  which 
makes  them  rankle,  like  an  unkind  construction  put 
upon  a  questionable  action.  As  the  foam  is  what  wind 
and  tide  have  made  of  it,  so  are  we  the  product  of  our 
circumstances,  the  resultant  of  a  thousand  forces,  far 
indeed  from  being  self-poised  or  self-contained,  too 
often  false  to  our  best  self,  insomuch  that  probably  no 
man  is  actually  what  in  the  depth  of  self-consciousness 
he  feels  himself  to  be,  what  moreover  he  should  prove 
to  be,  if  only  the  leaden  weight  of  constraining  circum¬ 
stance  were  lifted  off  the  spring  which  it  flattens  down 
to  earth.  Moses  himself  was  at  heart  a  very  different 
person  from  the  keeper  of  the  sheep  of  Jethro.  There¬ 
fore  man  says,  Pity  and  make  allowance  for  me  :  this 
is  not  my  true  self,  but  only  what  by  compression,  by 
starvation  and  stripes  and  bribery  and  error,  I  have 
become.  Only  God  says,  I  am  that  I  am. 

Yet  in  another  sense,  and  quite  as  deep  a  one,  man 
is  not  the  coarse  tiss-ue  which  past  circumstances  have 
woven  :  he  is  the  seed  of  the  future,  as  truly  as  the 
fruit  of  the  past.  Strange  compound  that  he  is  of 
memory  and  hope,  while  half  of  the  present  depends 
on  what  is  over,  the  other  half  is  projected  into  the 
future ;  and  like  a  bridge,  sustained  on  these  two  banks, 
life  throws  its  quivering  shadow  on  each  moment  that 
fleets  by.  It  is  not  attainment,  but  degradation  to  live 
upon  the  level  of  one's  mere  attainment,  no  longer 
uplifted  by  any  aspiration,  fired  by  any  emulation, 
goaded  by  any  but  carnal  fears.  If  we  have  been 
shaped  by  circumstances,  yet  we  are  saved  by  hope. 


6o 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


Do  net  judge  me,  we  are  all  entitled  to  plead,  by 
anything  that  I  am  doing  or  have  done :  He  only  can 
appraise  a  soul  a  right  Who  knows  what  it  yearns  to 
become,  what  within  itself  it  hates  and  prays  to  be 
delivered  from,  what  is  the  earnestness  of  its  self- 
loathing,  what  the  passion  of  its  appeal  to  heaven.  As 
the  bloom  of  next  April  is  the  true  comment  upon  the 
dry  bulb  of  September,  as  you  do  not  value  the  fountain 
by  the  pint  of  water  in  its  basin,  but  by  its  inex¬ 
haustible  capabilities  of  replenishment,  so  the  present 
and  its  joyless  facts  are  not  the  true  man ;  his 
possibilities,  the  fears  and  hopes  that  control  his 
destiny  and  shall  unfold  it,  these  are  his  real  self. 

I  am  not  merely  what  I  am  :  I  am  very  truly  that 
which  I  long  to  be.  And  thus,  man  may  plead,  I  am 
what  I  move  tovrards  and  strive  after,  my  aspiration  is 
myself.  But  God  says,  I  am  'what  I  am.  The  stream 
hurries  forward :  the  rock  abides.  And  this  is  the 
Rock  of  Ages. 

Now,  such  a  conception  is  at  first  sight  not  far  re¬ 
moved  from  that  apathetic  and  impassive  kind  of  deity 
which  the  practical  atheism  of  ancient  materialists 
could  well  afford  to  grant; — “  ever  in  itself  enjoying 
immortality  together  with  supreme  repose,  far  removed 
and  withdrawn  from  our  concerns,  since  it,  exempt  from 
every  pain,  exempt  from  all  danger,  strong  in  its  own 
resources  and  wanting  nought  from  us,  is  neither  gained 
by  favour  nor  moved  by  wrath.” 

Thus  Lucretius  conceived  of  the  absolute  Being  as  by 
the  necessity  of  its  nature  entirely  outside  our  system. 

But  Moses  was  taught  to  trust  in  Jehovah  as  inter¬ 
vening,  pitying  sorrow  and  wrong,  coming  down  to 
assist  His  creatures  in  distress. 

Howr  could  this  be  possible?  Clearly  the  movement 


iii.  14.  vi.  2,  3.] 


A  NEW  NAME. 


61 


towards  them  must  be  wholly  disinterested,  and  wholly 
from  within  ;  unbought,  since  no  external  influence  can 
modify  His  condition,  no  puny  sacrifice  can  propitiate 
Him  Who  sitteth  upon  the  circle  of  the  earth  and  the 
inhabitants  thereof  are  as  grasshoppers  :  a  movement 
prompted  by  no  irregular  emotional  impulse,  but  an 
abiding  law  of  His  nature,  incapable  of  change,  the 
movement  of  a  nature,  personal  indeed,  yet  as  steady, 
as  surely  to  be  reckoned  upon  in  like  circumstances,  as 
the  operations  of  gravitation  are. 

There  is  no  such  motive,  working  in  such  magnificent 
regularity  for  good,  save  one.  The  ultimate  doctrine 
of  the  New  Testament,  that  God  is  Love,  is  already 
involved  in  this  early  assertion,  that  being  wholly 
independent  of  us  and  our  concerns,  He  is  yet  not 
indifferent  to  them,  so  that  Moses  could  say  unto  the 
children  of  Israel  u  I  am  hath  sent  me  unto  you." 

It  is  this  unchangeable  consistency  of  Divine  action 
which  gives  the  narrative  its  intense  interest  to  us. 
To  Moses,  and  therefore  to  all  who  receive  any  com¬ 
mission  from  the  skies,  this  title  said,  Frail  creature, 
sport  of  circumstances  and  of  tyrants,  He  who  com¬ 
missions  thee  sits  above  the  waterfloods,  and  their 
rage  can  as  little  modify  or  change  His  purpose,  now 
committed  to  thy  charge,  as  the  spray  can  quench  the 
stars.  Perplexed  creature,  whose  best  self  lives  only 
in  aspiration  and  desire,  now  thou  art  an  instrument 
in  the  hand  of  Him  with  Whom  desire  and  attainment, 
will  and  fruition,  are  eternally  the  same.  None  truly 
fails  in  fighting  for  Jehovah,  for  who  hath  resisted  His 
will  ? 

To  Israel,  and  to  all  the  oppressed  whose  minds  are 
open  to  receive  the  tidings  and  their  faith  strong  to 
embrace  it,  He  said,  Your  life  is  blighted,  and  your 


62 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


future  is  in  the  hand  of  taskmasters,  yet  be  of  good 
cheer,  for  now  your  deliverance  is  undertaken  by  Him 
Whose  being  and  purpose  are  one,  Who  is  in  perfec¬ 
tion  of  enjoyment  all  that  He  is  in  contemplation  and 
in  will.  The  rescue  of  Israel  by  an  immutable  and 
perfect  God  is  the  earnest  of  the  breaking  of  every 
yoke. 

And  to  the  proud  and  godless  world  which  knows 
Him  not,  He  says,  Resistance  to  My  will  can  only 
show  forth  all  its  power,  which  is  not  at  the  mercy  of 
opinion  or  interest  or  change :  I  sit  upon  the  throne, 
not  only  supreme  but  independent,  not  only  victorious 
but  unassailable ;  self-contained,  self-poised  and  self- 
sufficing,  I  AM  THAT  I  AM. 

Have  we  now  escaped  the  inert  and  self-absorbed 
deity  of  Lucretius,  only  to  fall  into  the  palsying  grasp 
of  the  tyrannous  deity  of  Calvin  ?  Does  our  own 
human  will  shrivel  up  and  become  powerless  under 
the  compulsion  of  that  immutability  with  which  we  are 
strangely  brought  into  contact  ? 

Evidently  this  is  not  the  teaching  of  the  Book  of 
Exodus.  For  it  is  here,  in  this  revelation  of  the 
Supreme,  that  we  first  hear  of  a  nation  as  being  His : 
“  I  have  seen  the  affliction  of  My  people  which  is  in 
Egypt  .  .  .  and  I  have  come  down  to  bring  them  into 
a  good  land.”  They  wrere  all  baptized  into  Moses  in 
the  cloud  and  in  the  sea.  Yet  their  carcases  fell  in 
the  wilderness.  And  these  things  were  written  for 
cur  learning.  The  immutability,  which  suffers  no  shock 
when  we  enter  into  the  covenant,  remains  unshaken 
also  if  we  depart  from  the  living  God.  The  sun  shines 
alike  when  we  raise  the  curtain  and  when  wTe  drop  it, 
when  our  chamber  is  illumined  and  when  it  is  dark. 
The  immutability  of  God  is  not  in  His  operations,  for 


iii.  14.  vi.  2,  3.] 


A  NEW  NAME. 


63 


sometimes  He  gave  His  people  into  the  hand  of  their 
enemies,  and  again  He  turned  and  helped  them.  It  is 
in  His  nature,  His  mind,  in  the  principles  which  guide 
His  actions.  If  He  had  not  chastened  David  for  his 
sin,  then,  by  acting  as  before,  He  would  have  been 
other  at  heart  than  when  He  rejected  Saul  for  dis¬ 
obedience  and  chose  the  son  of  Jesse  to  fulfil  all  His 
word.  The  wind  has  veered,  if  it  continues  to  propel 
the  vessel  in  the  same  direction,  although  helm  and 
sails  are  shifted. 

Such  is  the  Pauline  doctrine  of  His  immutability. 
“  If  we  endure  we  shall  also  reign  with  Him  :  if  we 
shall  deny  Him,  He  also  will  deny  us,” — and  such  is  the 
necessity  of  His  being,  for  wTe  cannot  sway  Him  with 
our  changes  :  “  if  we  are  faithless,  He  abideth  faithful, 
for  He  cannot  deny  Himself.”  And  therefore  it  is 
presently  added  that  “the  firm  foundation  of  the  Lord 
standeth  sure,  having”  not  only  “this  seal,  that  the 
Lord  knoweth  those  that  are  His,” — but  also  this,  "  Let 
every  one  that  nameth  the  name  of  the  Lord  depart 
from  unrighteousness”  (2  Tim.  ii.  12,  13,  19,  R.V.). 

The  Lord  knew  that  Israel  was  His,  yet  for  their 
unrighteousness  He  sware  in  His  wrath  that  they 
should  not  enter  into  His  rest. 

It  follows  from  all  this  that  the  new  name  of  God 
was  no  academic  subtlety,  no  metaphysical  refinement 
of  the  schools,  unfitly  revealed  to  slaves,  but  a  most 
practical  and  inspiring  truth,  a  conviction  to  warm 
their  blood,  to  rouse  their  courage,  to  convert  their 
despair  into  confidence  and  their  alarms  into  defiance. 

They  had  the  support  of  a  God  worthy  of  trust. 
And  thenceforth  every  answer  in  righteousness,  every 
new  disclosure  of  fidelity,  tenderness,  love,  was  not 
an  abnormal  phenomenon,  the  uncertain  grace  of 


64 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


a  capricious  despot ;  no,  its  import  was  permanent  as 
an  observation  of  the  stars  by  an  astronomer,  ever 
more  to  be  remembered  in  calculating  the  movements 
of  the  universe. 

In  future  troubles  they  could  appeal  to  Him  to  awake 
as  in  the  ancient  days,  as  being  He  who  “cut  Rahab 
and  wounded  the  Dragon.”  “  I  am  the  Lord,  I  change 
not,  therefore  ye  sons  of  Jacob  are  not  consumed.” 

And  as  the  sublime  and  beautiful  conception  of  a 
loving  spiritual  God  was  built  up  slowly,  age  by  age, 
tier  upon  tier,  this  was  the  foundation  which  insured  the 
the  stability  of  all,  until  the  Head  Stone  of  the  Corner 
gave  completeness  to  the  vast  design,  until  men  saw  and 
could  believe  in  the  very  Incarnation  of  all  Love,  un¬ 
shaken  amid  anguish  and  distress  and  seeming  failure, 
immovable,  victorious,  while  they  heard  from  human  lips 
the  awful  words,  “  Before  Abraham  was,  I  am.”  Then 
they  learned  to  identify  all  this  ancient  lesson  of  trust¬ 
worthiness  with  new  and  more  pathetic  revelations  of 
affection  :  and  the  martyr  at  the  stake  grew  strong  as  he 
remembered  that  the  Man  of  Sorrows  was  the  same  yes¬ 
terday  and  to-day  and  for  ever ;  and  the  great  apostle, 
prostrate  before  the  glory  of  his  Master,  was  restored 
by  the  touch  of  a  human  hand,  and  by  the  voice  of  Him 
upon  Whose  bosom  he  had  leaned,  saying,  Fear  not,  I 
am  the  First  and  the  Last  and  the  Living  One. 

And  if  men  are  once  more  fain  to  rend  from  humanity 
that  great  assurance,  w7hich  for  ages,  amid  all  shocks, 
has  made  the  frail  creature  of  the  dust  to  grow  strong 
and  firm  and  fearless,  partaker  of  the  Divine  Nature, 
what  will  they  give  us  in  its  stead  ?  Or  do  they 
think  us  too  strong  of  will,  too  firm  of  purpose  ? 
Looking  around  us,  wre  see  nations  heaving  with  in¬ 
ternal  agitations,  armed  to  the  teeth  against  each  other, 


ill.  io,  16-22  ] 


THE  COMMISSION. 


65 


and  all  things  like  a  ship  at  sea  reeling  to  and  fro,  and 
staggering  like  a  drunken  man.  There  is  no  stability 
for  us  in  constitutions  or  old  formulae — none  anywhere, 
if  it  be  not  in  the  soul  of  man.  Well  for  us,  then,  that 
the  anchor  of  the  soul  is  sure  and  steadfast !  well  that 
unnumbered  millions  take  courage  from  their  Saviour's 
w7ord,  that  the  world's  worst  anguish  is  the  beginning, 
not  of  dissolution,  but  of  the  birth-pangs  of  a  new 
heaven  and  earth, — that  when  the  clouds  are  blackest 
because  the  light  of  sun  and  moon  is  quenched,  then, 
then  we  shall  behold  the  Immutable  unveiled,  the  Son 
of  Man,  who  is  brought  nigh  unto  the  Ancient  of  Days, 
now  sitting  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  and  coming  in  the 
glory  of  His  Father  1 

THE  COMMISSION. 
iii.  10,  16-22. 

We  have  already  learned  from  the  seventh  verse  that 
God  commissioned  Moses,  only  when  He  had  Himself 
descended  to  deliver  Israel.  He  sends  none,  except  with 
the  implied  or  explicit  promise  that  certainly  He  will 
be  with  them.  But  the  converse  is  also  true.  If  God 
sends  no  man  but  when  He  comes  Himself,  He  never 
comes  without  demanding  the  agency  of  man.  The 
overruled  reluctance  of  Moses,  and  the  inflexible 
urgency  of  his  commission,  may  teach  us  the  honour 
set  by  God  upon  humanity.  He  has  knit  men  together 
in  the  mutual  dependence  of  nations  and  of  families, 
that  each  may  be  His  minister  to  all ;  and  in  every  great 
crisis  of  history  He  has  respected  His  own  principle, 
and  has  visited  the  race  by  means  of  the  providential 
man.  The  gospel  was  not  preached  by  angels.  Its 
first  agents  found  themselves  like  sheep  among  wolves  : 

5 


66 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


they  were  an  exhibition  to  the  w’orld  and  to  angels 
and  men,  yet  necessity  was  laid  upon  them,  and  a 
wee  if  they  preached  it  not. 

All  the  best  gifts  of  heaven  come  to  us  by  the  agency 
of  inventor  and  sage,  hero  and  explorer,  organiser  and 
philanthropist,  patriot,  reformer  and  saint.  And  the 
hope  which  inspires  their  grandest  effort  is  never  that 
of  selfish  gain,  nor  even  of  fame,  though  fame  is  a  keen 
spur,  which  perhaps  God  set  before  Moses  in  the  noble 
hope  that  “  thou  shalt  bring  forth  the  people  ”  (ver.  12). 
But  the  truly  impelling  force  is  always  the  great  deed 
itself,  the  haunting  thought,  the  importunate  inspiration, 
the  inward  fire ;  and  so  God  promises  Moses  neither  a 
sceptre,  nor  share  in  the  good  land  :  He  simply  proposes 
to  him  the  work,  the  rescue  of  the  people ;  and  Moses, 
for  his  part,  simply  objects  that  he  is  unable,  not  that 
he  is  solicitous  about  his  reward.  Whatever  is  done 
for  payment  can  be  valued  by  its  cost :  all  the  priceless 
services  done  for  us  by  our  greatest  were,  in  very  deed, 
unpriced. 

Moses,  with  the  new  name  of  God  to  reveal,  and 
with  the  assurance  that  He  is  about  to  rescue  Israel,  is 
bidden  to  go  to  work  advisedly  and  wisely.  He  is  not 
to  appeal  to  the  mob,  nor  yet  to  confront  Pharaoh  without 
authority  from  his  people  to  speak  for  them,  nor  is  he  to 
make  the  great  demand  for  emancipation  abruptly  and 
at  once.  The  mistake  of  forty  years  ago  must  not  be 
repeated  now.  He  is  to  appeal  to  the  elders  of  Israel ; 
and  with  them,  and  therefore  clearly  representing  the 
nation,  he  is  respectfully  to  crave  permission  for  a  three 
days’  journey,  to  sacrifice  to  Jehovah  in  the  wilderness. 
The  blustering  assurance  with  which  certain  fanatics 
of  our  own  time  first  assume  that  they  possess  a  direct 
commission  from  the  skies,  and  thereupon  that  they 


iii.  10,  16-22.] 


THE  COMMISSION. 


67 


are  freed  from  all  order,  from  all  recognition  of  any 
human  authority,  and  then  that  no  considerations  of 
prudence  or  of  decency  should  restrain  the  violence 
and  bad  taste  which  they  mistake  for  zeal,  is  curiously 
unlike  an}dhing  in  the  Old  Testament  or  the  New. 
Was  ever  a  commission  more  direct  than  those  of 
Moses  and  of  St.  Paul?  Yet  Moses  was  to  obtain  the 
recognition  of  the  elders  of  his  people  ;  and  St.  Paul 
received  formal  ordination  by  the  explicit  command  of 
God  (Acts  xiii.  3). 

Strangely  enough,  it  is  often  assumed  that  this 
demand  for  a  furlough  of  three  days  was  insincere. 
But  it  would  only  have  been  so,  if  consent  were 
expected,  and  if  the  intention  were  thereupon  to 
abuse  the  respite  and  refuse  to  return.  There  is  not 
the  slightest  hint  of  any  duplicity  of  the  kind.  The  real 
motives  for  the  demand  are  very  plain.  The  excursion 
which  they  proposed  would  have  taught  the  people  to 
move  and  act  together,  reviving  their  national  spirit, 
and  filling  them  with  a  desire  for  the  liberty  which  they 
tasted.  In  the  very  words  which  they  should  speak, 
u  The  Lord,  the  God  of  the  Hebrews,  hath  met  with 
us,”  there  is  a  distinct  proclamation  of  nationality,  and 
of  its  surest  and  strongest  bulwark,  a  national  religion. 
From  such  an  excursion,  therefore,  the  people  would 
have  returned,  already  well-nigh  emancipated,  and  with 
recognised  leaders.  Certainly  Pharaoh  could  not  listen 
to  any  such  proposal,  unless  he  were  prepared  to 
reverse  the  whole  policy  of  his  dynasty  toward  Israel. 

But  the  refusal  answered  two  good  ends.  In  the 
first  place  it  joined  issue  on  the  best  conceivable  ground, 
for  Israel  was  exhibited  making  the  least  possible 
demand  with  the  greatest  possible  courtesy — “  Let  us 
go,  we  pray  thee,  three  days’  journey  into  the  wilder- 


68 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


ness.”  Not  even  so  much  would  be  granted.  The 
tyrant  was  palpably  in  the  wrong,  and  thenceforth  it 
was  perfectly  reasonable  to  increase  the  severity  of  the 
terms  after  each  of  his  defeats,  which  proceeding  in 
its  turn  made  concession  more  and  more  galling  to  his 
pride.  In  the  second  place,  the  quarrel  was  from  the 
first  avowedly  and  undeniably  religious  :  the  gods  of 
Egypt  were  matched  against  Jehovah ;  and  in  the 
successive  plagues  which  desolated  his  land  Pharaoh 
gradually  learnt  Who  Jehovah  was. 

In  the  message  which  Moses  should  convey  to  the 
elders  there  are  two  significant  phrases.  He  was  to 
announce  in  the  name  of  God,  “  I  have  surely  visited 
you,  and  seen  that  which  is  done  unto  you  in  Egypt.” 
The  silent  observation  of  God  before  He  interposes 
is  very  solemn  and  instructive.  So  in  the  Revelation, 
He  walks  among  the  golden  candlesticks,  and  knows 
the  work,  the  patience,  or  the  unfaithfulness  of  each. 
So  He  is  not  far  from  any  one  of  us.  When  a  heavy 
blow  falls  we  speak  of  it  as  11  a  Visitation  of  Provi¬ 
dence,”  but  in  reality  the  visitation  has  been  long 
before.  Neither  Israel  nor  Egypt  was  conscious  of  the 
solemn  presence.  Who  knows  what  soul  of  man,  or 
what  nation,  is  thus  visited  to-day,  for  future  deliverance 
or  rebuke  ? 

Again  it  is  said,  “  I  will  bring  you  up  out  of  the 
affliction  of  Egypt  into  ...  a  land  flowing  with  milk 
and  honey.”  Their  affliction  was  the  divine  method  of 
uprooting  them.  And  so  is  our  affliction  the  method 
by  which  our  hearts  are  released  from  love  of  earth 
and  life,  that  in  due  time  He  may  "  surely  bring  us  in  ” 
to  a  better  and  an  enduring  country.  Now,  we  wonder 
that  the  Israelites  clung  so  fondly  to  the  place  of  their 
captivity.  But  what  of  our  own  hearts  ?  Have  they 


lii.  10,  16-22.] 


THE  COMMISSION. 


69 


a  desire  to  depart  ?  or  do  they  groan  in  bondage,  and 
yet  recoil  from  their  emancipation  ? 

The  hesitating  nation  is  not  plainly  told  that  their 
affliction  will  be  intensified  and  their  lives  made 
burdensome  with  labour.  That  is  perhaps  implied  in 
the  certainty  that  Pharaoh  “will  not  let  you  go,  no,  not 
by  a  mighty  hand."  But  it  is  with  Israel  as  with  us  : 
a  general  knowledge  that  in  the  world  we  shall  have 
tribulation  is  enough  ;  the  catalogue  of  our  trials  is  not 
spread  out  before  us  in  advance.  They  were  assured 
for  their  encouragement  that  all  their  long  captivity 
should  at  last  receive  its  wages,  for  they  should  not 
borrow  *  but  ask  of  the  Egyptians  jewels  of  silver,  and 
gold,  and  raiment,  and  they  should  spoil  the  Egyptians. 
So  are  we  taught  to  have  “  respect  unto  the  recompense 
of  the  rewTard.” 

*  So  much  ignorant  capital  has  been  made  by  sceptics  out  of  this 
unfortunate  mistranslation,  that  it  is  worth  while  to  inquire  whether 
the  word  “  borrow ”  would  suit  the  context  in  other  passages.  “He 
borrowed  water  and  she  gave  him  milk  ”  (Judges  v.  25).  “The  Lord 
said  unto  Solomon,  Because  thou  hast  borrowed  this  thing,  and  hast 
not  borrowed  long  life  for  thyself,  neither  hast  borrowed  riches  for 
thyself,  nor  hast  borrowed  the  life  of  thine  enemies  ”  (1  Kings  iii. 
Ii).  “And  Elijah  said  unto  Elisha,  Thou  hast  borrowed  a  hard  thing” 
(3  Kings  ii.  10).  The  absurdity  of  the  cavil  is  self-evident. 


CHAPTER  IV, 


MOSES  HESITATES. 


i 


iv.  1-17. 


OLY  Scripture  is  impartial,  even  towards  its 


X  X  heroes.  The  sin  of  David  is  recorded,  and  the 
failure  of  Peter.  And  so  is  the  reluctance  of  Moses 
to  accept  his  commission,  even  after  a  miracle  had 
been  vouchsafed  to  him  for  encouragement.  The 
absolute  sinlessness  of  Jesus  is  the  more  significant 
because  it  is  found  in  the  records  of  a  creed  which 
knows  of  no  idealised  humanity. 

In  Josephus,  the  refusal  of  Moses  is  softened  down. 
Even  the  modest  words,  “Lord,  I  am  still  in  doubt 
how  I,  a  private  man  and  of  no  abilities,  should  per¬ 
suade  my  countrymen  or  Pharaoh, ”  are  not  spoken 
after  the  sign  is  given.  Nor  is  there  any  mention  cf 
the  transfer  to  Aaron  of  a  part  of  his  commission,  nor 
of  their  joint  offence  at  Meribah,  nor  of  its  penalty, 
which  in  Scripture  is  bewailed  so  often.  And  Josephus 
is  equally  tender  about  the  misdeeds  of  the  nation. 
We  hear  nothing  of  their  murmurs  against  Moses  and 
Aaron  when  their  burdens  are  increased,  or  of  their 
making  the  golden  calf.  Whereas  it  is  remarkable  and 
natural  that  the  fear  of  Moses  is  less  anxious  about 
his  reception  by  the  tyrant  than  by  his  own  people  : 
“  Behold,  they  will  not  believe  me,  nor  hearken  unto  my 
voice  ;  for  they  will  say,  The  Lord  hath  not  appeared 
unto  thee.”  This  is  very  unlike  the  invention  of  a 


ti  i- 1 7J 


MOSES  HESITATES. 


7* 


later  period,  glorifying  the  beginnings  of  the  nation  ; 
but  it  is  absolutely  true  to  life.  Great  men  do  not  fear 
the  wrath  of  enemies  if  they  can  be  secured  against 
the  indifference  and  contempt  of  friends;  and  Moses 
in  particular  was  at  last  persuaded  to  undertake  his 
mission  by  the  promise  of  the  support  of  Aaron.  His 
hesitation  is  therefore  the  earliest  example  of  what  has 
been  so  often  since  observed — the  discouragement  of 
heroes,  reformers  and  messengers  from  God,  less  by 
fear  of  the  attacks  of  the  world  than  of  the  contemptu¬ 
ous  scepticism  of  the  people  of  God.  We  often  sigh 
for  the  appearing,  in  our  degenerate  days,  of 

“  A  man  with  heart,  head,  hand, 

Like  some  of  the  simple  great  ones  gone.” 

Yet  who  shall  say  that  the  want  of  them  is  not  our 
own  fault  ?  The  critical  apathy  and  incredulity,  not 
of  the  world  but  of  the  Church,  is  what  freezes  the 
fountains  of  Christian  daring  and  the  warmth  of 
Christian  zeal. 

For  the  help  of  the  faith  of  his  people,  Moses  is  com¬ 
missioned  to  work  two  miracles;  and  he  is  caused  to 
rehearse  them,  for  his  own. 

Strange  tales  were  told  among  the  later  Jews  about 
his  wonder-working  rod.  It  was  cut  by  Adam  before 
leaving  Paradise,  was  brought  by  Noah  into  the  ark, 
passed  into  Egypt  with  Joseph,  and  was  recovered  by 
Moses  while  he  enjoyed  the  favour  of  the  court.  These 
legends  arose  from  downright  moral  inability  to  receive 
the  true  lesson  of  the  incident,  which  is  the  confronting 
of  the  sceptre  of  Egypt  with  the  simple  staff  of  the 
shepherd,  the  choosing  of  the  weak  things  of  earth  to 
confound  the  strong,  the  power  of  God  to  work  His 
miracles  by  the  most  puny  and  inadequate  means. 


72 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


Anything  was  more  credible  than  that  He  who  led 
1 1  is  people  like  sheep  did  indeed  guide  them  with  a 
common  shepherd's  crook.  And  yet  this  was  precisely 
the  lesson  meant  for  us  to  learn — the  glorification  of 
poor  resources  in  the  grasp  of  faith. 

Both  miracles  were  of  a  menacing  kind.  First  the 
rod  became  a  serpent,  to  declare  that  at  God’s  bidding 
enemies  would  rise  up  against  the  oppressor,  even 
where  all  seemed  innocuous,  as  in  truth  the  waters  of 
the  river  and  the  dust  of  the  furnace  and  the  winds 
of  heaven  conspired  against  him.  Then,  in  the  grasp 
of  Moses,  the  serpent  from  which  he  fled  became  a 
rod  again,  to  intimate  that  these  avenging  forces  were 
subject  to  the  servant  of  Jehovah. 

Again,  his  hand  became  leprous  in  his  bosom,  and 
was  presently  restored  to  health  again — a  declaration 
that  he  carried  with  him  the  power  of  death,  in  its 
most  dreadful  form  ;  and  perhaps  a  still  more  solemn 
admonition  to  those  wTho  remember  what  leprosy 
betokens,  and  how  every  approach  of  God  to  man 
brings  first  the  knowledge  of  sin,  to  be  followed  by 
the  assurance  that  He  has  cleansed  it.* 

If  the  people  w7ould  not  hearken  to  the  voice  of  the 
first  sign,  they  should  believe  the  second ;  but  at  the 


*  Tertullian  appealed  to  the  second  of  these  miracles  to  illustrate 
the  possibility  of  the  resurrection.  “  The  hand  of  Moses  is  changed 
and  becomes  like  that  of  the  dead,  bloodless,  colourless,  and  stiff  with 
cold.  But  on  the  recovery  of  heat  and  restoration  of  its  natural 
colour,  it  is  the  same  flesh  and  blood.  .  .  So  will  changes,  conversions 
and  reformation  be  needed  to  bring  about  the  resurrection,  yet  the 
substance  will  be  preserved  safe.”  ( De  Res.,  lv.)  It  is  far  wiser  to  be 
content  with  the  declaration  of  St.  Paul  that  the  identity  of  the  body 
does  not  depend  on  that  of  its  corporeal  atoms.  “  Thou  sowest  not 
that  body  that  shall  be,  but  a  naked  grain.  .  .  .  But  God  giveth  ...  to 
every  seed  his  own  body”  (i  Cor.  xv.  37-S). 


IV.  I-I7-] 


A/OSES  HESITATES. 


73 


worst,  and  if  they  were  still  unconvinced,  they  would 
believe  when  they  saw  the  water  of  the  Nile,  the  pride 
and  glory  of  their  oppressors,  turned  into  blood  before 
their  eyes.  That  was  an  omen  which  needs  no  inter¬ 
pretation.  What  follows  is  curious.  Moses  objects 
that  he  has  not  hitherto  been  eloquent,  nor  does  he 
experience  any  improvement  “  since  Thou  hast  spoken 
unto  Thy  servant”  (a  graphic  touch!),  and  he  seems 
to  suppose  that  the  popular  choice  between  liberty  arid 
slavery  would  depend  less  upon  the  evidence  of  a 
Divine  power  than  upon  sleight  of  tongue,  as  if  he 
were  in  modern  England. 

But  let  it  be  observed  that  the  self-consciousness 
which  wears  the  mask  of  humility  while  refusing  to 
submit  its  judgment  to  that  of  God,  is  a  form  of 
selfishness — self-absorption  blinding  one  to  other  con¬ 
siderations  beyond  himself — as  real,  though  not  as 
hateful,  as  greed  and  avarice  and  lust. 

How  can  Moses  call  himself  slow  of  speech  and  of 
a  slow  tongue,  when  Stephen  distinctly  declares  that 
he  was  mighty  in  word  as  well  as  deed  ?  (Acts  vii.  22). 
Perhaps  it  is  enough  to  answer  that  many  years  of 
solitude  in  a  strange  land  had  robbed  him  of  his 
fluency.  Perhaps  Stephen  had  in  mind  the  words  of 
the  Book  of  Wisdom,  that  u  Wisdom  entered  into  the 
soul  of  the  servant  of  the  Lord,  and  withstood  dreadful 
kings  in  wonders  and  signs.  .  .  .  For  Wisdom  opened 
the  mouth  of  the  dumb,  and  made  the  tongues  of  them 
that  cannot  speak  eloquent”  (Wisdom  x.  16,  21). 

To  his  scruple  the  answer  was  returned,  “Who  hath 
made  man’s  mouth  ?  .  .  .  Have  not  I  the  Lord?  Now 
therefore  go,  and  I  will  be  with  thy  mouth,  and  teach 
thee  what  thou  shalt  say.”  The  same  encouragement 
belongs  to  every  one  who  truly  executes  a  mandate 


74 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


from  above  :  “Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway.”  For  surely 
this  encouragement  is  the  same.  Surely  Jesus  did  not 
mean  to  offer  His  own  presence  as  a  substitute  for  that 
of  God,  but  as  being  in  very  truth  Divine,  when  fie 
bade  His  disciples,  in  reliance  upon  Him,  to  go  forth 
and  convert  the  world. 

And  this  is  the  true  test  which  divides  faith  from 
presumption,  and  unbelief  from  prudence  :  do  we  go 
because  God  is  w7ith  us  in  Christ,  or  because  we  our¬ 
selves  are  strong  and  wise  ?  Do  we  hold  back  because 
we  are  not  sure  of  His  commission,  or  only  because 
we  distrust  ourselves  ?  il  Humility  without  faith  is  too 
timorous ;  faith  without  humility  is  too  hasty.”  The 
phrase  explains  the  conduct  of  Moses  both  now  and 
forty  years  before. 

Moses,  however,  still  entreats  that  any  one  may  be 
chosen  rather  than  himself:  “Send,  I  pray  Thee,  by  the 
hand  of  him  whom  Thou  wilt  send.” 

And  thereupon  the  anger  of  the  Lord  wTas  kindled 
against  him,  although  at  the  moment  his  only  visible 
punishment  was  the  partial  granting  of  his  prayer — 
the  association  with  him  in  his  commission  of  Aaron, 
who  could  speak  well,  the  forfeiting  of  a  certain  part 
of  his  vocation,  and  with  it  of  a  certain  part  of  its 
reward.  The  words,  11  Is  not  Aaron  thy  brother  the 
Levite  ?  ”  have  been  used  to  insinuate  that  the  tribal 
arrangement  was  not  perfected  when  they  were  writ¬ 
ten,  and  so  to  discredit  the  narrative.  But  when  so 
interpreted  they  yield  no  adequate  sense,  they  do 
not  reinforce  the  argument ;  while  they  are  perfectly 
intelligible  as  implying  that  Aaron  is  already  the  leader 
of  his  tribe,  and  therefore  sure  to  obtain  the  hearing 
of  which  Moses  despaired.  But  the  arrangement  in¬ 
volved  grave  consequences  sure  to  be  developed  in 


iv.  l-l?.] 


MOSES  HESITATES. 


75 


due  lime  :  among  others,  the  reliance  of  Israel  upon  a 
feebler  will,  which  could  be  forced  by  their  clamour  to 
make  them  a  calf  of  gold.  Moses  was  yet  to  learn  that 
lesson  which  our  century  knows  nothing  of, — that  a 
speaker  and  a  leader  of  nations  are  not  the  same. 
When  he  cried  to  Aaron,  in  the  bitterness  of  his  soul, 
“  What  did  this  people  to  thee,  that  thou  hast  brought 
so  great  a  sin  upon  them  ?  ”  did  he  remember  by  whose 
unfaithfulness  Aaron  had  been  thrust  into  the  office, 
the  responsibilities  of  which  he  had  betrayed  ? 

Now,  it  is  the  duty  of  every  man,  to  whom  a  special 
vocation  presents  itself,  to  set  opposite  each  other  two 
considerations.  Dare  I  undertake  this  task  ?  is  a 
solemn  question,  but  so  is  this  :  Dare  I  let  this  task 
go  pastime?  Am  I  prepared  for  the  responsibility  of 
allowing  it  to  drift  into  weaker  hands  ?  These  are 
days  when  the  Church  of  Christ  is  calling  for  the  help 
of  every  one  capable  of  aiding  her,  and  we  ought  to  hear 
it  said  more  often  that  one  is  afraid  not  to  teach  in 
Sunday  School,  and  another  dares  not  refuse  a  proffered 
district,  and  a  third  fears  to  leave  charitable  tasks 
undone.  To  him  that  knoweth  to  do  good,  and  doeth 
it  not,  to  him  it  is  sin  ;  and  we  hear  too  much  about 
the  terrible  responsibility  of  working  for  God,  but  too 
little  about  the  still  graver  responsibility  of  refusing  to 
work  for  Him  when  called. 

Moses  indeed  attained  so  much  that  we  are  scarcely 
conscious  that  he  might  have  been  greater  still.  He  had 
once  presumed  to  go  unsent,  and  brought  upon  himself 
the  exile  of  half  a  lifetime.  Again  he  presumed  almost 
to  say,  I  go  not,  and  well-nigh  to  incur  the  guilt  of 
Jonah  when  sent  to  Nineveh,  and  in  so  doing  he 
forfeited  the  fulness  of  his  vocation.  But  who  reaches 
the  level  of  his  possibilities  ?  Who  is  not  haunted  by 


76 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


faces,  “  each  one  a  murdered  self/'  a  nobler  self,  that 
nught  have  been,  and  is  now  impossible  for  ever  ? 
Only  Jesus  could  say  “I  have  finished  the  work  which 
Thou  gavest  Me  to  do."  And  it  is  notable  that  while 
Jesus  deals,  in  the  parable  of  the  labourers,  wTith  the 
problem  of  equal  faithfulness  during  longer  and  shorter 
periods  of  employment ;  and  in  the  parable  of  the 
pounds  with  that  of  equal  endowment  variously  im¬ 
proved  ;  and  yet  again,  in  the  parable  of  the  talents, 
with  the  problem  of  various  endowments  all  doubled 
alike,  He  alw7ays  draws  a  veil  over  the  treatment  of  five 
talents  which  earn  but  two  or  three  besides. 

A  more  cheerful  reflection  suggested  by  this  narrative 
is  the  strange  power  of  human  fellowship.  Moses 
knew7  and  w7as  persuaded  that  God,  Whose  presence  was 
even  then  miraculously  apparent  in  the  bush,  and  Who 
had  invested  him  with  superhuman  powers,  would  go 
writh  him.  There  is  no  trace  of  incredulity  in  his 
behaviour,  but  only  of  failure  to  rely,  to  cast  his 
shrinking  and  reluctant  will  upon  the  truth  he  recog¬ 
nised  and  the  God  Whose  presence  he  confessed.  He 
held  back,  as  many  a  one  does,  who  is  honest  when  he 
repeats  the  Creed  in  church,  yet  fails  to  submit  his 
life  to  the  easy  yoke  of  Jesus.  Nor  is  it  from  physical 
peril  that  he  recoils  :  at  the  bidding  of  God  he  has  just 
grasped  the  serpent  from  which  he  fled  ;  and  in  con¬ 
fronting  a  tyrant  with  armies  at  his  back,  he  could 
hope  for  small  assistance  from  his  brother.  But  highly 
strung  spirits,  in  every  great  crisis,  are  aware  of  vague 
indefinite  apprehensions  that  are  not  cowardly  but 
imaginative.  Thus  Caesar,  when  defying  the  hosts  of 
Pompey,  is  said  to  have  been  disturbed  by  an  apparition. 
It  is  vain  to  put  these  apprehensions  into  logical  form, 
and  argue  them  dowrn :  the  slowness  of  speech  of 


IV.  1-7  7.1 


MOSES  HESITATES . 


77 


Moses  was  surely  refuted  by  the  presence  of  Go/i, 
Who  makes  the  mouth  and  inspires  the  utterance  ;  but 
such  fears  lie  deeper  than  the  reasons  they  assign,  and 
when  argument  fails,  will  yet  stubbornly  repeat  their 
cry:  “Send,  I  pray  Thee,  by  the  hand  of  him  whom 
Thou  w7ilt  send.’'  Now  this  shrinking,  which  is  not 
craven,  is  dispelled  by  nothing  so  effectually  as  by  the 
touch  of  a  human  hand.  It  is  like  the  voice  of  a  friend 
to  one  beset  by  ghostly  terrors :  he  does  not  expect 
his  comrade  to  exorcise  a  spirit,  and  yet  his  apprehen¬ 
sions  are  dispelled.  Thus  Moses  cannot  summon  up 
courage  from  the  protection  of  God,  but  when  assured 
of  the  companionship  of  his  brother  he  will  not  only 
venture  to  return  to  Egypt,  but  will  bring  with  him  his 
wife  and  children.  Thus,  also,  He  Who  knew  what 
was  in  men’s  hearts  sent  forth  His  missionaries,  both 
the  Twelve  and  the  Seventy  (as  W’e  have  yet  to  learn 
the  true  economy  of  sending  ours),  u  by  two  and  two  ” 
(Mark  vi.  7 ;  Luke  x.  1). 

This  is  the  principle  w7hich  underlies  the  institution 
of  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  the  conception  that  Chris¬ 
tians  are  brothers,  among  whom  the  strong  must  help 
the  weak.  Such  help  from  their  fellow-mortals  wTould 
perhaps  decide  the  choice  of  many  hesitating  souls, 
upon  the  verge  of  the  divine  life,  recoiling  from  its 
unknown  and  dread  experiences,  but  longing  for  a 
sympathising  comrade.  Alas  for  the  unkindly  and 
unsympathetic  religion  of  men  whose  faith  has  never 
warmed  a  human  heart,  and  of  congregations  in  which 
emotion  is  a  misdemeanour  ! 

There  is  no  stronger  force,  among  all  that  make  for 
the  abuses  of  priestcraft,  than  this  same  yearning  for 
human  help  becomes  when  robbed  of  its  proper  nourish¬ 
ment,  which  is  the  communion  of  saints,  and  the 


78 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


pastoral  care  of  souls.  Has  it  no  further  nourishment 
than  these  ?  This  instinctive  craving  for  a  Brother  to 
help  as  well  as  a  Father  to  direct  and  govern, — this 
social  instinct,  which  banished  the  fears  of  Moses  and 
made  him  set  out  for  Egypt  long  before  Aaron  came  in 
sight,  content  when  assured  of  Aaron’s  co-operation, — 
is  there  nothing  in  God  Himself  to  respond  to  it  ?  He 
Who  is  not  ashamed  to  call  us  brethren  has  profoundly 
modified  the  Church’s  conception  of  Jehovah,  the  Eternal, 
Absolute  and  Unconditioned.  It  is  because  He  can 
be  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities,  that  we 
are  bidden  to  draw  near  with  boldness  unto  the  Throne 
of  Grace.  There  is  no  heart  so  lonely  that  it  cannot 
commune  with  the  lofty  and  kind  humanity  of  Jesus. 

There  is  a  homelier  lesson  to  be  learned.  Moses 
was  not  only  solaced  by  human  fellowship,  but  nerved 
and  animated  by  the  thought  of  his  brother,  and  the 
mention  of  his  tribe.  “  Is  not  Aaron  thy  brother  the 
Levite  ?  ”  They  had  not  met  for  forty  years.  Vague 
rumours  of  deadly  persecution  were  doubtless  all  that 
had  reached  the  fugitive,  whose  heart  had  burned,  in 
solitary  communion  with  Nature  in  her  sternest  forms, 
as  he  brooded  over  the  wrongs  of  his  family,  of  Aaron, 
and  perhaps  of  Miriam. 

And  now  his  brother  lived.  The  call  which  Moses 
would  have  put  from  him  was  for  the  emancipation 
of  his  own  flesh  and  blood,  and  for  their  greatness. 
In  that  great  hour,  domestic  affection  did  much  to 
turn  the  scale  wherein  the  destinies  of  humanity  were 
trembling.  And  his  was  affection  well  returned.  It 
might  easily  have  been  otherwise,  for  Aaron  had  seen 
his  younger  brother  called  to  a  dazzling  elevation, 
living  in  enviable  magnificence,  and  earning  fame  by 
1  word  and  deed  " ;  and  then,  after  a  momentary  fusion 


iv.  18-31.] 


MOSES  OBEYS. 


79 


of  sympathy  and  of  condition,  forty  years  had  poured 
between  them  a  torrent  of  cares  and  joys  estranging 
because  unshared.  But  it  was  promised  that  Aaron, 
when  he  saw  him,  should  be  glad  at  heart ;  and  the 
words  throw  a  beam  of  exquisite  light  into  the  depths 
ot  the  mighty  soul  wdiich  God  inspired  to  emancipate 
Israel  and  to  found  His  Church,  by  thoughts  of  his 
brother’s  joy  on  meeting  him. 

Let  no  man  dream  of  attaining  real  greatness  by 
stifling  his  affections.  The  heart  is  more  important 
than  the  intellect ;  and  the  brief  story  of  the  Exodus 
has  room  for  the  yearning  of  Jochebed  over  her  infant 
"when  she  saw  him  that  he  was  a  goodly  child,”  for 
the  bold  inspiration  of  the  young  poetess,  who  li  stood 
afar  off  to  know  what  should  be  done  to  him,”  and  now 
for  the  love  of  Aaron.  So  the  Virgin,  in  the  dread 
hour  of  her  reproach,  went  in  haste  to  her  cousin 
Elizabeth.  So  Andrew  il  findeth  first  his  own  brother 
Simon.”  And  so  the  Divine  Sufferer,  forsaken  of  God, 
did  not  forsake  His  mother. 

The  Bible  is  full  of  domestic  life.  It  is  the  theme 
of  the  greater  part  of  Genesis,  which  makes  the  family 
the  seed-plot  of  the  Church.  It  is  wisely  recognised 
again  at  the  moment  when  the  larger  pulse  of  the 
nation  begins  to  beat.  For  the  life-blood  in  the  heart 
of  a  nation  must  be  the  blood  in  the  hearts  of  men. 

MOSES  OBEYS. 

iv,  18-31. 

Moses  is  now  commissioned  :  he  is  to  go  to  Egypt, 
and  Aaron  is  coming  thence  to  meet  him.  Yet  he  first 
returns  to  Midian,  to  Jethro,  who  is  both  his  employer 


So 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


and  the  head  of  the  family,  and  prays  him  to  sanction 
his  visit  to  his  own  people. 

There  are  duties  which  no  family  resistance  can 
possibly  cancel,  and  the  direct  command  of  God  made 
it  plain  that  this  was  one  of  them.  But  there  are  two 
ways  of  performing  even  the  most  imperative  obligation, 
and  religious  people  have  done  irreparable  mischief 
before  now,  by  rudeness,  disregard  to  natural  feeling 
and  the  rights  of  their  fellow-men,  under  the  im¬ 
pression  that  they  showed  their  allegiance  to  God 
by  outraging  other  ties.  It  is  a  theory  for  which  no 
sanction  can  be  found  either  in  Holy  Scripture  or  in 
common  sense. 

When  he  asks  permission  to  visit  11  his  brethren  ” 
we  cannot  say  whether  he  ever  had  brothers  besides 
Aaron,  or  uses  the  word  in  the  same  larger  national 
sense  as  when  we  read  that,  forty  years  before,  he 
went  out  unto  his  brethren  and  saw  their  burdens. 
What  is  to  be  observed  is  that  he  is  reticent  with 
respect  to  his  vast  expectations  and  designs. 

He  does  not  argue  that,  because  a  Divine  promise 
must  needs  be  fulfilled,  he  need  not  be  discreet,  wary 
and  taciturn,  any  more  than  St.  Paul  supposed,  because 
the  lives  of  his  shipmates  were  promised  to  him,  that 
it  mattered  nothing  whether  the  sailors  remained  on 
board. 

The  decrees  of  God  have  sometimes  been  used  to 
justify  the  recklessness  of  man,  but  never  by  His 
chosen  followers.  They  have  worked  out  their  own 
salvation  the  more  earnestly  because  God  worked  in 
them.  And  every  good  cause  calls  aloud  for  human 
energy  and  wisdom,  all  the  more  because  its  consum¬ 
mation  is  the  will  of  God,  and  sooner  or  later  is  assured. 
Ivloses  has  unlearned  his  rashness. 


iv.  18*31.] 


MOSES  OBEYS . 


81 


When  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses  in  Midian,  Go, 
return  unto  Egypt,  for  all  the  men  are  dead  which 
sought  thy  life,”  there  is  an  almost  verbal  resemblance 
to  the  words  in  which  the  infant  Jesus  is  recalled  trom 
exile.  We  shall  have  to  consider  the  typical  aspect  of 
the  whole  narrative,  when  a  convenient  stage  is  reached 
for  pausing  to  survey  it  in  its  completeness.  But 
resemblances  like  this  have  been  treated  with  so  much 
scorn,  they  have  been  so  freely  perverted  into  evidence 
of  the  mythical  nature  of  the  later  story,  that  some 
passing  allusion  appears  desirable.  We  must  beware 
equally  of  both  extremes.  The  Old  Testament  is 
tortured,  and  genuine  prophecies  are  made  no  better 
than  coincidences,  when  coincidences  are  exalted  to  all 
the  dignity  of  express  predictions.  One  can  scarcely 
venture  to  speak  of  the  death  of  Herod  when  Jesus 
was  to  return  from  Egypt,  as  being  deliberately 
typified  in  the  death  of  those  who  sought  the  life  of 
Moses.  But  it  is  quite  clear  that  the  words  in  St. 
Matthew  do  intentionally  point  the  reader  back  to 
this  narrative.  For,  indeed,  under  both,  there  are  to 
be  recognised  the  same  principles :  that  God  does  not 
thrust  His  servants  into  needless  or  excessive  peril ; 
and  that  when  the  life  of  a  tyrant  has  really  become 
not  only  a  trial  but  a  barrier,  it  will  be  removed  by  the 
King  of  kings.  God  is  prudent  for  His  heroes. 

Moreover,  we  must  recognise  the  lofty  fitness  of 
what  is  very  visible  in  the  Gospels — the  coming  to  a 
head  in  Christ  of  the  various  experiences  of  the  people 
of  God ;  and  at  the  recurrence,  in  His  story,  of  events 
already  known  elsewhere,  we  need  not  be  disquieted, 
as  if  the  suspicion  of  a  myth  were  now  become  difficult 
to  refute ;  rather  should  we  recognise  the  fulness  of 
the  supreme  life,  and  its  points  of  contact  with  all 

6 


82 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


lives,  which  are  but  portions  of  its  vast  completeness. 
Who  does  not  feel  that  in  the  world’s  greatest  events 
a  certain  harmony  and  correspondence  are  as  charming 
as  they  are  in  music  ?  There  is  a  sort  of  counterpoint 
in  history.  And  to  this  answering  of  deep  unto  deep, 
this  responsiveness  of  the  story  of  Jesus  to  all  history, 
our  attention  is  silently  beckoned  by  St.  Matthew, 
when,  without  asserting  any  closer  link  between  the 
incidents,  he  borrows  this  phrase  so  aptly. 

A  much  deeper  meaning  underlies  the  profound  ex¬ 
pression  which  God  now  commands  Moses  to  employ , 
and  although  it  must  await  consideration  at  a  future 
time,  the  progressive  education  of  Moses  himself  is 
meantime  to  be  observed.  At  first  he  is  taught  that 
the  Lord  is  the  God  of  their  fathers,  in  whose  descend¬ 
ants  He  is  therefore  interested.  Then  the  present 
Israel  is  His  people,  and  valued  for  its  own  sake. 
Now  he  hears,  and  is  bidden  to  repeat  to  Pharaoh,  the 
amazing  phrase,  “  Israel  is  My  son,  even  My  firstborn : 
let  My  son  go  that  he  may  serve  Me;  and  if  thou 
refuse  to  let  him  go,  behold  I  will  slay  thy  son,  even 
thy  firstborn.”  Thus  it  is  that  infant  faith  is  led  from 
height  to  height.  And  assuredly  there  never  was  an 
utterance  better  fitted  than  this  to  prepare  human 
minds,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  for  a  still  clearer 
revelation  of  the  nearness  of  God  to  man,  and  for  the 
possibility  of  an  absolute  union  between  the  Creator 
and  His  creature. 

It  was  on  his  way  into  Egypt,  with  his  wife  and 
children,  that  a  mysterious  interposition  forced  Zipporah 
reluctantly  and  tardily  to  circumcise  her  son. 

The  meaning  of  this  strange  episode  lies  perhaps 
below  the  surface,  but  very  near  it.  Danger  in  some 
form,  probably  that  of  sickness,  pressed  Moses  hard,  and 


iv.  18-31.] 


MOSES  OBEYS. 


83 


he  recognised  in  it  the  displeasure  of  his  God.  The 
form  of  the  narrative  leads  us  to  suppose  that  he  had 
no  previous  consciousness  of  guilt,  and  had  now  to 
infer  the  nature  of  his  offence  without  any  explicit 
announcement,  just  as  we  infer  it  from  what  follows. 

If  so,  he  discerned  his  transgression  when  trouble 
awoke  his  conscience ;  and  so  did  his  wife  Zipporah. 
Yet  her  resistance  to  the  circumcision  of  their  younger 
son  was  so  tenacious,  with  such  difficulty  was  it  over¬ 
come  by  her  husband’s  peril  or  by  his  command,  that 
her  tardy  performance  of  the  rite  was  accompanied  by 
an  insulting  action  and  a  bitter  taunt.  As  she  sub¬ 
mitted,  the  Lord  “  let  him  go  ” ;  but  we  may  perhaps 
conclude  that  the  grievance  continued  to  rankle,  from 
the  repetition  of  her  gibe,  “  So  she  said,  A  bridegroom 
of  blood  art  thou  because  of  the  circumcision.”  The 
words  mean,  “We  are  betrothed  again  in  blood,”  and 
might  of  themselves  admit  a  gentler,  and  even  a  tender 
significance ;  as  if,  in  the  sacrifice  of  a  strong  prejudice 
for  her  husband’s  sake,  she  felt  a  revival  of  "  the  kind¬ 
ness  of  her  youth,  the  love  of  her  espousals.”  For 
nothing  removes  the  film  from  the  surface  of  a  true 
affection,  and  makes  the  heart  aware  how  bright  it  is, 
so  well  as  a  great  sacrifice,  frankly  offered  for  the  sake 
of  love. 

But  such  a  rendering  is  excluded  by  the  action  which 
went  with  her  words,  and  they  must  be  explained  as 
meaning,  This  is  the  kind  of  husband  I  have  wedded: 
these  are  our  espousals.  With  such  an  utterance  she 
fades  almost  entirely  out  of  the  story:  it  does  not  even 
tell  how  she  drew  back  to  her  father ;  and  thenceforth 
all  wre  know  of  her  is  that  she  rejoined  Moses  only  when 
the  fame  of  his  victory  over  Amalek  had  gone  abroad. 

Their  union  seems  to  have  been  an  ill-assorted  or  at 


84 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


least  an  unprosperous  one.  In  the  tender  hour  when 
their  firstborn  was  to  be  named,  the  bitter  sense  of 
loneliness  had  continued  to  be  nearer  to  the  heart  of 
Moses  than  the  glad  new  consciousness  of  paternity, 
and  he  said,  "  I  am  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land.” 
Different  indeed  had  been  the  experience  of  Joseph, 
who  called  his  11  firstborn  Manasseh,  for  God,  said  he, 
hath  made  me  forget  all  my  toil,  and  all  my  father’s 
house  ”  (Gen.  xli.  51).  The  home-life  of  Moses  had 
not  made  him  forget  that  he  was  an  exile.  Even  the 
removal  of  imminent  death  from  her  husband  could  not 
hush  these  selfish  complaints  of  Zipporah,  not  because 
he  was  a  father  of  blood  to  her  little  one,  but  because  he 
was  a  bridegroom  of  blood  to  her  own  shrinking  sensi¬ 
bilities.  It  is  Miriam  the  sister,  not  Zipporah  the  wife, 
who  gives  lyrical  and  passionate  voice  to  his  triumph, 
and  is  mourned  by  the  nation  when  she  dies.  Both 
what  we  read  of  her  and  what  we  do  not  read  goes  far 
to  explain  the  insignificance  of  their  children  in  history, 
and  the  more  startling  fact  that  the  grandson  of  Moses 
became  the  venal  instrument  of  the  Danites  in  their 
schismatic  worship  (Judges  xviii.  30,  R.V.). 

Domestic  unhappiness  is  a  palliation,  but  not  a 
justification,  for  an  unserviceable  life.  It  is  a  great 
advantage  to  come  into  action  with  the  dew  and  fresh¬ 
ness  of  affection  upon  the  soul.  Yet  it  is  not  once  nor 
twice  that  men  have  carried  the  message  of  God  back 
from  the  barren  desert  and  the  lonely  ways  of  their 
unhappiness  to  the  not  too  happy  race  of  man. 

Now,  who  can  fail  to  discern  real  history  in  all  this  ? 
Is  it  in  such  a  way  that  myth  or  legend  would  have 
dealt  with  the  wife  of  the  great  deliverer  ?  Still  less 
conceivable  is  it  that  these  should  have  treated  Moses 
himself  as  the  narrative  hitherto  has  consistently  done. 


V.  1 8-3 1.] 


MOSES  OBEYS. 


85 


At  every  step  he  is  made  to  stumble.  His  first  attempt 
was  homicidal,  and  brought  upon  him  forty  years  of 
exile.  When  the  Divine  commission  came  he  drew 
back  wilfully,  as  he  had  formerly  pressed  forward 
unsent.  There  is  not  even  any  suggestion  offered  us 
of  Stephen's  apology  for  his  violent  deed — namely,  that 
he  supposed  his  brethren  understood  how  that  God  by 
his  hand  was  giving  them  deliverance  (Acts  vii.  25). 
There  is  nothing  that  resembles  the  eulogium  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  upon  the  faith  which  glorified 
his  precipitancy,  like  the  rainbow  in  a  torrent,  because 
that  rash  blow  committed  him  to  share  the  affliction  of 
the  people  of  God,  and  renounced  the  rank  of  a  grand¬ 
son  of  the  Pharaoh  (Heb.  xi.  24-5).  All  this  is  very 
natural,  if  Moses  himself  be  in  any  degree  responsible 
for  the  narrative.  It  is  incredible,  if  the  narrative  were 
put  together  after  the  Captivity,  to  claim  the  sanction 
of  so  great  a  name  for  a  newly  forged  hierarchical 
system.  Such  a  theory  could  scarcely  be  refuted  more 
completely,  if  the  narrative  before  us  were  invented 
with  the  deliberate  aim  to  overthrow  it. 

But  in  truth  the  failures  of  the  good  and  great  are 
written  for  our  admonition,  teaching  us  how  incon¬ 
sistent  are  even  the  best  of  mortals,  and  how  weak 
the  most  resolute.  Rather  than  forfeit  his  own  place 
among  the  chosen  people,  Moses  had  forsaken  a  palace 
and  become  a  proscribed  fugitive ;  yet  he  had  neglected 
to  claim  for  his  child  its  rightful  share  in  the  covenant, 
its  recognition  among  the  sons  of  Abraham.  Perhaps 
procrastination,  perhaps  domestic  opposition,  more 
potent  than  a  king's  wrath  to  shake  his  purpose,  per¬ 
haps  the  insidious  notion  that  one  who  had  sacrificed 
so  much  might  be  at  ease  about  slight  negligences, — • 
some  such  influence  had  left  the  commandment  un- 


8c 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


observed.  And  now,  when  the  dream  of  his  life  was 
being  realised  at  last,  and  he  found  himself  the  chosen 
instrument  of  God  for  the  rebuke  of  one  nation  and  the 
making  of  another,  how  pardonable  it  must  have  seemed 
to  leave  an  unpleasant  small  domestic  duty  over  until 
a  more  convenient  season  !  How  natural  it  still  seems 
to  merge  the  petty  task  in  the  high  vocation,  to  excuse 
small  lapses  in  pursuit  of  lofty  aims  !  But  this  was 
the  very  time  when  God,  hitherto  forbearing,  took  him 
sternly  to  task  for  his  neglect,  because  men  who  are 
especially  honoured  should  be  more  obedient  and 
reverential  than  their  fellows.  Let  young  men  who 
dream  of  a  vast  career,  and  meanwhile  indulge  them¬ 
selves  in  small  obliquities,  let  all  who  cast  out  demons 
in  the  name  of  Christ,  and  yet  work  iniquity,  reflect 
upon  this  chosen  and  long-trained,  self-sacrificing  and 
ardent  servant  of  the  Lord,  whom  Jehovah  seeks  to 
kill  because  he  wilfully  disobeys  even  a  purely  cere¬ 
monial  precept. 

Moses  was  not  only  religious,  but  “a  man  of  destiny/’ 
one  upon  whom  vast  interests  depended.  Now,  such 
men  have  often  reckoned  themselves  exempt  from  the 
ordinary  laws  of  conduct.* 

It  is  not  a  light  thing,  therefore,  to  find  God’s  indig¬ 
nant  protest  against  the  faintest  shadow  of  a  doctrine 
so  insidious  and  so  deadly,  set  in  the  forefront  of  sacred 
history,  at  the  very  point  where  national  concerns  and 
those  of  religion  begin  to  touch.  If  our  politics  are  to 
be  kept  pure  and  clean,  we  must  learn  to  exact  a  higher 
fidelity,  and  not  a  relaxed  morality,  from  those  who 
propose  to  sway  the  destinies  of  nations. 

*  “I  am  not  an  ordinary  man,”  Napoleon  used  to  say,  “and  the 
laws  of  morals  and  of  custom  were  never  made  for  me.” — Memoirs  oj 
Madame  de  Remit  sat,  i.  91. 


iv.  18-31.] 


MOSES  OBEYS . 


87 


And  now  the  brothers  meet,  embrace,  and  exchange 
confidences.  As  Andrew,  the  first  disciple  who  brought 
another  to  Jesus,  found  first  his  own  brother  Simon, 
so  was  Aaron  the  earliest  convert  to  the  mission  of 
Moses.  And  that  happened  which  so  often  puts  our 
faithlessness  to  shame.  It  had  seemed  very  hard  to 
break  his  strange  tidings  to  the  people  :  it  was  in  fact 
very  easy  to  address  one  whose  love  had  not  grown 
cold  during  their  severance,  who  probably  retained 
faith  in  the  Divine  purpose  for  which  the  beautiful 
child  of  the  family  had  been  so  strangely  preserved, 
and  who  had  passed  through  trial  and  discipline 
unknown  to  us  in  the  stern  intervening  years. 

And  when  they  told  their  marvellous  story  to  the 
elders  of  the  people,  and  displayed  the  signs,  they 
believed ;  and  when  they  heard  that  God  had  visited 
them  in  their  affliction,  then  they  bowed  their  heads 
and  worshipped. 

This  was  their  preparation  for  the  wronders  that 
should  follow  :  it  resembled  Christ’s  appeal,  "  Believest 
thou  that  I  am  able  to  do  this  ?  ”  or  Peter’s  word  to 
the  impotent  man,  u  Look  on  us.” 

For  the  moment  the  announcement  had  the  desired 
effect,  although  too  soon  the  early  promise  was 
succeeded  by  faithlessness  and  discontent.  In  this, 
again,  the  teaching  of  the  earliest  political  movement 
on  record  is  as  fresh  as  if  it  wrere  a  tale  of  yesterday. 
The  offer  of  emancipation  stirs  all  hearts  ;  the  romance 
of  liberty  is  beautiful  beside  the  Nile  as  in  the  streets 
of  Paris  ;  but  the  cost  has  to  be  gradually  learned ; 
the  losses  displace  the  gains  in  the  popular  attention  ; 
the  labour,  the  self-denial  and  the  self-control  grow 
wearisome,  and  Israel  murmurs  for  the  flesh-pots  of 
Egypt,  much  as  the  modern  revolution  reverts  to  a 


88 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


despotism.  It  is  one  thing  to  admire  abstract  freedom, 
but  a  very  different  thing  to  accept  the  austere  con¬ 
ditions  of  the  life  of  genuine  freemen.  And  surely 
the  same  is  true  of  the  soul.  The  gospel  gladdens 
the  young  convert :  he  bows  his  head  and  worships ; 
but  he  little  dreams  of  his  long  discipline,  as  in  the 
forty  desert  years,  of  the  solitary  places  through  which 
his  soul  must  wander,  the  drought,  the  Amalekite, 
the  absent  leader,  and  the  temptations  of  the  flesh. 
In  mercy,  the  long  future  is  concealed;  it  is  enough 
that,  like  the  apostles,  we  should  consent  to  follow ; 
gradually  we  shall  obtain  the  courage  to  which  th; 
task  may  be  revealed. 


CHAPTER  V. 


FHARAOH  REFUSES. 


v.  1-23. 


FTER  forty  years  of  obscurity  and  silence,  Moses 


ii  re-enters  the  magnificent  halls  where  he  had 
formerly  turned  his  back  upon  so  great  a  place.  1  he 
rod  of  a  shepherd  is  in  his  hand,  and  a  lowly  Hebrew 
by  his  side.  Men  who  recognise  him  shake  their  heads, 
and  pity  or  despise  the  fanatic  who  had  thrown  away  the 
most  dazzling  prospects  for  a  dream.  But  he  has  long 
since  made  his  choice,  and  whatever  misgivings  now 
beset  him  have  regard  to  his  success  with  Pharaoh  or 
with  his  brethren,  not  to  the  wisdom  of  his  decision. 

Nor  had  he  reason  to  repent  of  it.  The  pomp  of  an 
obsequious  court  was  a  poor  thing  in  the  eyes  of  an 
ambassador  of  God,  who  entered  the  palace  to  speak 
such  lofty  words  as  never*  passed  the  lips  of  any  son 
of  Pharaoh's  daughter.  He  was  presently  to  become  a 
god  unto  Pharaoh,  with  Aaron  for  his  prophet. 

In  itself,  his  presence  there  was  formidable.  The 
Hebrews  had  been  feared  when  he  was  an  infant.  Now 
their  cause  was  espoused  by  a  man  of  culture,  who 
had  allied  himself  with  their  natural  leaders,  and  was 
returned,  with  the  deep  and  steady  fire  of  a  zeal  which 
forty  years  of  silence  could  not  quench,  to  assert  the 
rights  of  Israel  as  an  independent  people. 


po 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


There  is  a  terrible  power  in  strong  convictions, 
especially  when  supported  by  the  sanctions  of  religion. 
Luther  on  one  side,  Loyola  on  the  other,  were  mightier 
than  kings  when  armed  with  this  tremendous  weapon. 
Yet  there  are  forces  upon  which  patriotism  and 
fanaticism  together  break  in  vain.  Tyranny  and  pride 
of  race  have  also  strong  impelling  ardours,  and  carry 
men  far.  Pharaoh  is  in  earnest  as  well  as  Moses,  and 
can  act  with  perilous  energy.  And  this  great  narrative 
begins  the  story  of  a  nation’s  emancipation  with  a 
human  demand,  boldly  made,  but  defeated  by  the  pride 
and  vigour  of  a  startled  tyrant  and  the  tameness  of 
a  downtrodden  people.  The  limitations  of  human 
energy  are  clearly  exhibited  before  the  direct  inter¬ 
ference  of  God  begins.  All  that  a  brave  man  can  do, 
when  nerved  by  lifelong  aspiration  and  by  a  sudden 
conviction  that  the  hour  of  destiny  has  struck,  all 
therefore  upon  which  rationalism  can  draw,  to  explain 
the  uprising  of  Israel,  is  exhibited  in  this  preliminary 
attempt,  this  first  demand  of  Moses. 

Menephtah  was  no  doubt  the  new  Pharaoh  whom 
the  brothers  accosted  so  boldly.  What  we  glean  of 
him  elsewhere  is  highly  suggestive  of  some  grave 
event  left  unrecorded,  exhibiting  to  us  a  man  of 
uncontrollable  temper  }^et  of  broken  courage,  a  ruthless, 
godless,  daunted  man.  There  is  a  legend  that  he  once 
hurled  his  spear  at  the  Nile  when  its  floods  rose  too 
high,  and  was  punished  with  ten  years  of  blindness. 
In  the  Libyan  war,  after  fixing  a  time  when  he  should 
join  his  vanguard,  with  the  main  army,  a  celestial 
vision  forbade  him  to  keep  his  word  in  person,  and  the 
victory  was  gained  by  his  lieutenants.  In  another 
war,  he  boasts  of  having  slaughtered  the  people  and 
set  fire  to  them,  and  netted  the  entire  country  as  men 


V.  I-23-] 


PHARAOH  REFUSES. 


91 


net  birds.  Forty  years  then  elapse  without  war  and 
without  any  great  buildings;  there  are  seditions  and 
internal  troubles,  and  the  dynasty  closes  with  his  son.* 
All  this  is  exactly  what  we  should  expect,  if  a  series  of 
tremendous  blows  had  depopulated  a  country,  abolished 
an  army,  and  removed  two  millions  of  the  working 
classes  in  one  mass. 

But  it  will  be  understood  that  this  identification, 
concerning  which  there  is  now  a  very  general  consent 
of  competent  authorities,  implies  that  the  Pharaoh  was 
not  himself  engulfed  with  his  army.  Nothing  is  on 
the  other  side  except  a  poetic  assertion  in  Psalm 
cxxxvi.  15,  which  is  not  that  God  destroyed,  but  that 
He  “  shook  off”  Pharaoh  and  his  host  in  the  Red  Sea, 
because  His  mercy  endureth  for  ever. 

To  this  king,  then,  whose  audacious  family  had 
usurped  the  symbols  of  deity  for  its  head-dress,  and 
whose  father  boasted  that  in  battle  11  he  became  like 
the  god  Mentu  ”  and  “  was  as  Baal,”  the  brothers  came 
as  yet  without  miracle,  with  no  credentials  except 
from  slaves,  and  said,  “  Thus  saith  Jehovah,  the  God  of 
Israel,  Let  My  people  go,  that  they  may  hold  a  feast 
unto  Me  in  the  wilderness.”  The  issue  was  distinctly 
raised :  did  Israel  belong  to  Jehovah  or  to  the  king  ? 
And  Pharaoh  answered,  with  equal  decision,  “Who 
is  Jehovah,  that  I  should  hearken  unto  His  voice  ?  I 
know  not  Jehovah,  and  what  is  more,  I  will  not  let 
Israel  go.” 

Now,  the  ignorance  of  the  king  concerning  Jehovah 
was  almost  or  quite  blameless :  the  fault  was  in  his 
practical  refusal  to  inquire.  Jehovah  was  no  concern  of 
his  :  without  waiting  for  information,  he  at  once  decided 


* 


Robinson,  “The  Pharaohs  of  the  Bondage.” 


92 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


that  his  grasp  on  his  captives  should  not  relax.  And 
his  second  fault,  which  led  to  this,  was  the  same  grind¬ 
ing  oppression  of  the  helpless  which  for  eighty  years 
already  had  brought  upon  his  nation  the  guilt  of 
blood.  Crowned  and  national  cupidity,  the  resolution  to 
wring  from  their  slaves  the  last  effort  consistent  wTith 
existence,  such  greed  as  took  offence  at  even  the 
momentary  pause  of  hope  while  Moses  pleaded,  be¬ 
cause  “the  people  of  the  land  are  many,  and  ye  make 
them  rest  from  their  burdens," — these  shut  their  hearts 
against  reason  and  religion,  and  therefore  God  presently 
hardened  those  same  hearts  against  natural  misgiving 
and  dread  and  awe-stricken  submission  to  His  judg¬ 
ments. 

For  it  was  against  religion  also  that  he  wTas  unyield¬ 
ing.  In  his  ample  Pantheon  there  wTas  room  at  least 
for  the  possibility  of  the  entrance  of  the  Hebrew  God, 
and  in  refusing  to  the  subject  people,  without  investiga¬ 
tion,  leisure  for  any  worship,  the  king  outraged  not 
only  humanity,  but  Heaven. 

The  brothers  proceed  to  declare  that  they  have  them¬ 
selves  met  with  the  deity,  and  there  must  have  been 
many  in  the  court  who  could  attest  at  least  the  sincerity 
of  Moses;  they  ask  for  liberty  to  spend  a  day  in 
journeying  outwrard  and  another  in  returning,  with  a 
day  between  for  their  wTorship,  and  W’arn  the  king  of 
the  much  greater  loss  to  himself  which  may  be  involved 
in  vengeance  upon  refusal,  either  by  war  or  pestilence. 
But  the  contemptuous  answTer  utterly  ignores  religion : 
“Wherefore  do  ye,  Moses  and  Aaron,  loose  the  people 
from  their  work  ?  Get  ye  unto  your  burdens." 

And  his  counter-measures  are  taken  without  loss  of 
time  :  “  that  same  day  "  the  order  goes  out  to  exact  the 
regular  quantity  of  brick,  but  supply  no  straw  for  bind- 


V.  i -23-3 


PHARAOH  REFUSES. 


93 


in g  it  together.  It  is  a  pitiless  mandate,  and  illustrates 
the  fact,  very  natural  though  often  forgotten,  that  men 
as  a  rule  cannot  lose  sight  of  the  religious  value  of 
their  fellow-men,  and  continue  to  respect  or  pity  them 
as  before.  We  do  not  deny  that  men  who  professed 
religion  have  perpetrated  nameless  cruelties,  nor  that 
unbelievers  have  been  humane,  sometimes  with  a 
pathetic  energy,  a  tenacious  grasp  on  the  virtue  still 
possible  to  those  who  have  no  Heaven  to  serve.  But  it 
is  plain  that  the  average  man  will  despise  his  brother, 
and  his  brother’s  rights,  just  in  proportion  as  the 
Divine  sanctions  of  those  rights  fade  away,  and  nothing 
remains  to  be  respected  but  the  culture,  power  and 
affluence  which  the  victim  lacks.  “  I  know  not  Israel’s 
God  ”  is  a  sure  prelude  to  the  refusal  to  let  Israel  go, 
and  even  to  the  cruelty  which  beats  the  slave  who  fails 
to  render  impossible  obedience. 

“  They  be  idle,  therefore  they  cry,  saying,  Let  us  go 
and  sacrifice  to  our  God.”  And  still  there  are  men 
who  hold  the  same  opinion,  that  time  spent  in  devotion 
is  wasted,  as  regards  the  duties  of  real  life.  In  truth, 
religion  means  freshness,  elasticity  and  hope :  a  man 
will  be  not  slothful  in  business,  but  fervent  in  spirit, 
if  he  serves  the  Lord.  But  perhaps  immortal  hope, 
and  the  knowledge  that  there  is  One  Who  shall  break 
all  prison  bars  and  let  the  oppressed  go  free,  are  not 
the  best  narcotics  to  drug  down  the  soul  of  a  man  into 
the  monotonous  tameness  of  a  slave. 

In  the  tenth  verse  we  read  that  the  Egyptian  task¬ 
masters  and  the  officers  combined  to  urge  the  people  to 
their  aggravated  labours.  And  by  the  fourteenth  verse 
we  find  that  the  latter  officials  were  Hebrew  officers 
whom  Pharaoh’s  taskmasters  had  set  over  them. 

So  that  we  have  here  one  of  the  surest  and  worst 


94 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


effects  of  slavery — namely,  the  demoralisation  of  the 
oppressed,  the  readiness  of  average  men,  who  can 
obtain  for  themselves  a  little  relief,  to  do  so  at  their 
brethren’s  cost.  These  officials  were  scribes,  il  writers” : 
their  business  was  to  register  the  amount  of  labour 
due,  and  actually  rendered.  These  were  doubtless  the 
more  comfortable  class,  of  whom  we  read  afterwards 
that  they  possessed  property,  for  their  cattle  escaped 
the  murrain  and  their  trees  the  hail.  And  they  had 
the  means  of  acquiring  quite  sufficient  skill  to  justify 
whatever  is  recorded  of  the  works  done  in  the  con¬ 
struction  of  the  tabernacle.  The  time  is  long  past 
when  scepticism  found  support  for  its  incredulity  in 
these  details. 

One  advantage  of  the  last  sharp  agony  of  perse¬ 
cution  was  that  it  finally  detached  this  official  class 
from  the  Egyptian  interest,  and  welded  Israel  into  a 
homogeneous  people,  with  officers  already  provided. 
For,  when  the  supply  of  bricks  came  short,  these 
officials  wTere  beaten,  and,  as  if  no  cause  of  the  failure 
WTere  palpable,  they  wrere  asked,  with  a  malicious 
chuckle,  u  Wherefore  have  ye  not  fulfilled  your  task 
both  yesterday  and  to-day,  as  heretofore  ?  ”  And  when 
they  explain  to  Pharaoh,  in  words  already  expressive 
of  their  alienation,  that  the  fault  is  with  “  thine  own 
people,”  they  are  repulsed  with  insult,  and  made  to 
feel  themselves  in  evil  case.  For  indeed  they  needed 
to  be  chastised  for  their  forgetfulness  of  God.  How 
soon  wrould  their  hearts  have  turned  back,  how  much 
more  bitter  yet  would  have  been  their  complaints  in 
the  desert,  if  it  were  not  for  this  last  experience  !  But 
if  judgment  began  with  them,  what  should  presently 
be  the  fate  of  their  oppressors  ? 

Their  broken  spirit  shows  itself  by  murmuring,  not 


V.  1-2  3-] 


PHARAOH  REFUSES. 


95 


against  Pharaoh,  blit  against  Moses  and  Aaron,  who 
at  least  had  striven  to  help  them.  Here,  as  in  the 
whole  story,  there  is  not  a  trace  of  either  the  lofty 
spirit  which  could  have  evolved  the  Mosaic  law,  or  the 
hero-worship  of  a  later  age. 

It  is  written  that  Moses,  hearing  their  reproaches, 
“  returned  unto  the  Lord/'  although  no  visible  shrine, 
no  consecrated  place  of  worship,  can  be  thought  of. 

What  is  involved  is  the  consecration  which  the 
heart  bestows  upon  any  place  of  privacy  and  prayer, 
where,  in  shutting  out  the  world,  the  soul  is  aware 
of  the  special  nearness  of  its  King.  In  one  sense  we 
never  leave  Him,  never  return  to  Him.  In  another 
sense,  by  direct  address  of  the  attention  and  the  will, 
we  enter  into  His  presence ;  we  find  Him  in  the  midst 
of  us,  Who  is  everywhere.  And  all  ceremonial  con¬ 
secrations  do  their  office  by  helping  us  to  realise  and 
act  upon  the  presence  of  Him  in  Whom,  even  when 
He  is  forgotten,  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being. 
Therefore  in  the  deepest  sense  each  man  consecrates 
or  desecrates  for  himself  his  own  place  of  prayer. 
There  is  a  city  where  the  Divine  presence  saturates 
every  consciousness  with  rapture.  And  the  seer  be¬ 
held  no  temple  therein,  for  the  Lord  God  the  Almighty, 
and  the  Lamb,  are  the  temple  of  it. 

Startling  to  our  notions  of  reverence  are  the  words 
in  which  Moses  addresses  God.  “  Lord,  why  hast 
Thou  evil  entreated  this  people  ?  Why  is  it  that 
Thou  hast  sent  me  ?  for  since  I  came  to  Pharaoh 
to  speak  in  Thy  name,  he  hath  evil  entreated  this 
people ;  neither  hast  Thou  delivered  Thy  people  at 
all."  It  is  almost  as  if  his  faith  had  utterly  given 
way,  like  that  of  the  Psalmist  when  he  saw  the  wickea 
in  great  prosperity,  while  waters  of  a  full  cup  wer« 


96 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


wrung  out  by  the  people  of  God  (Ps.  lxxiii.  3,  10). 
And  there  is  always  a  dangerous  moment  when  the 
first  glow  of  enthusiasm  burns  down,  and  we  realise 
how  long  the  process,  how  bitter  the  disappointments, 
by  which  even  a  scanty  measure  of  success  must 
be  obtained.  Yet  God  had  expressly  warned  Moses 
that  Pharaoh  would  not  release  them  until  Egypt  had 
been  smitten  with  all  His  plagues.  But  the  warning 
passed  unapprehended,  as  we  let  many  a  truth  pass, 
intellectually  accepted  it  is  true,  but  only  as  a  theorem, 
a  vague  and  abstract  formula.  As  we  know  that  we 
must  die,  that  worldly  pleasures  are  brief  and  unreal, 
and  that  sin  draws  evil  in  its  train,  yet  wonder  when 
these  phrases  become  solid  and  practical  in  our  experi¬ 
ence,  so,  in  the  first  flush  and  wonder  of  the  promised 
emancipation,  Moses  had  forgotten  the  predicted  interval 
of  trial. 

His  words  would  have  been  profane  and  irreverent 
indeed  but  for  one  redeeming  quality.  They  were 
addressed  to  God  Himself.  Whenever  the  people 
murmured,  Moses  turned  for  help  to  Him  Who  reckons 
the  most  unconventional  and  daring  appeal  to  Him  far 
better  than  the  most  ceremonious  phrases  in  which 
men  cover  their  unbelief :  “  Lord,  wherefore  hast  Thou 
evil  entreated  this  people  ?  ”  is  in  reality  a  much  more 
pious  utterance  than  “  I  will  not  ask,  neither  will  J 
tempt  the  Lord."  Wherefore  Moses  receives  large 
encouragement,  although  no  formal  answer  is  vouch¬ 
safed  to  his  daring  question. 

Even  so,  in  our  dangers,  our  torturing  illnesses,  and 
many  a  crisis  which  breaks  through  all  the  crust  of 
forms  and  conventionalities,  God  may  perhaps  recognise 
a  true  appeal  to  Him,  in  words  which  only  scandalise 
the  orthodoxy  of  the  formal  and  precise.  In  the  bold 


V.  I-23-] 


PHARAOH  REFUSES. 


97 


rejoinder  of  the  Syro-Phoenician  woman  He  recognised 
great  faith.  Plis  disciples  would  simply  have  sent  her 
away  as  clamorous. 

Moses  had  again  failed,  even  though  Divinely  com¬ 
missioned,  in  the  work  of  emancipating  Israel,  and 
thereupon  he  had  cried  to  the  Lord  Himself  to  under¬ 
take  the  work.  This  abortive  attempt,  however,  was 
far  from  useless  :  it  taught  humility  and  patience  to 
the  leader,  and  it  pressed  the  nation  together,  as  in  a 
vice,  by  the  weight  of  a  common  burden,  now  become 
intolerable.  At  the  same  moment,  the  iniquity  of  the 
tyrant  was  filled  up. 

But  the  Lord  did  not  explain  this,  in  answer  to 
the  remonstrance  of  Moses.  Many  things  happen,  for 
which  no  distinct  verbal  explanation  is  possible,  many 
things  of  which  the  deep  spiritual  fitness  cannot  be 
expressed  in  words.  Experience  is  the  true  commen¬ 
tator  upon  Providence,  if  only  because  the  slow  building 
of  character  is  more  to  God  than  either  the  hasting 
forward  of  deliverance  or  the  clearing  away  of  intellec¬ 
tual  mists.  And  it  is  only  as  we  take  His  yoke  upon 
us  that  we  truly  learn  of  Him.  Yet  much  is  implied, 
if  not  spoken  out,  in  the  words,  “Now  (because  the 
time  is  ripe)  shalt  thou  see  what  I  will  do  to  Pharaoh 
(I,  because  others  have  failed) ;  for  by  a  strong  hand 
shall  he  let  them  go,  and  by  a  strong  hand  shall  he 
drive  them  out  of  the  land.*'  It  is  under  the  weight 
of  the  “strong  hand"  of  God  Himself  that  the  tyrant 
must  either  bend  or  break. 

Similar  to  this  is  the  explanation  of  many  delays 
in  answering  our  pra}rer,  of  the  strange  raising  up 
of  tyrants  and  demagogues,  and  of  much  else  that 
perplexes  Christians  in  history  and  in  their  own 
experience.  These  events  develop  human  character, 

7 


98 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


for  good  or  evil.  And  they  give  scope  for  the  revealing 
of  the  fulness  of  the  power  which  rescues.  We  have 
no  means  of  measuring  the  supernatural  force  which 
overcomes  but  by  the  amount  of  the  resistance  offered. 
And  if  all  good  things  came  to  us  easily  and  at  once, 
we  should  not  become  aware  of  the  horrible  pit,  our 
rescue  from  which  demands  gratitude.  The  Israelites 
would  not  have  sung  a  hymn  of  such  fervent  gratitude 
when  the  sea  was  crossed,  if  they  had  not  known  the 
weight  of  slavery  and  the  anguish  of  suspense.  And 
in  heaven  the  redeemed  who  have  come  out  of  great 
tribulation  sing  the  song  of  Moses  and  of  the  Lamb. 

Fresh  air,  a  balmy  wind,  a  bright  blue  sky — which 
of  us  feels  a  thrill  of  conscious  exultation  for  these 
cheap  delights  ?  The  released  prisoner,  the  restored 
invalid,  feels  it : 

“  The  common  earth,  the  air,  the  skiea, 

To  him  are  opening  paradise.” 

Even  so  should  Israel  be  taught  to  value  deliverance. 
And  now  the  process  could  begin. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  ENCOURAGEMENT  OF  MOSES. 


vi.  1-30. 


E  have  seen  that  the  name  Jehovah  expresses 


V  V  not  a  philosophic  meditation,  but  the  most 
bracing  and  reassuring  truth — viz.,  that  an  immutable 
and  independent  Being  sustains  His  people ;  and  this 
great  title  is  therefore  reaffirmed  with  emphasis  in  the 
hour  of  mortal  discouragement.  It  is  added  that  their 
fathers  knew  God  by  the  name  of  Gcd  Almighty,  but 
by  His  name  Jehovah  was  He  not  known,  or  made 
known,  unto  them.  Now,  it  is  quite  clear  that  they 
were  not  utterly  ignorant  of  this  title,  for  no  such  theory 
as  that  it  was  hitherto  mentioned  by  anticipation  only, 
can  explain  the  first  syllable  in  the  name  of  the  mother 
of  Moses  himself,  nor  the  assertion  that  in  the  time  of 
Seth  men  began  to  call  upon  the  name  of  Jehovah 
(Gen.  iv.  26),  nor  the  name  of  the  hill  of  Abraham’s 
sacrifice,  Jehovah-jireh  (Gen.  xxii.  14).  Yet  the  state¬ 
ment  cannot  be  made  available  for  the  purposes  of  any 
reasonable  and  moderate  scepticism,  since  the  sceptical 
theory  demands  a  belief  in  successive  redactions  of 
the  work  in  which  an  error  so  gross  could  not  have 
escaped  detection. 

And  the  true  explanation  is  that  this  Name  was  now, 
for  the  first  time,  to  be  realised  as  a  sustaining  power. 
The  patriarchs  had  known  the  name ;  how  its  fitness 


I  GO 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


should  be  realised :  God  should  be  known  by  it.  They 
had  drawn  support  and  comfort  from  that  simpler 
view  of  the  Divine  protection  which  said,  “I  am  the 
Almighty  God:  walk  before  Me  and  be  thou  perfect” 
(Gen.  xvii.  i).  But  thenceforth  all  the  experience  of 
the  past  was  to  reinforce  the  energies  of  the  present, 
and  men  were  to  remember  that  their  promises  came 
from  One  who  cannot  change.  Others,  like  Abraham, 
had  been  stronger  in  faith  than  Moses.  But  faith  is  not 
the  same  as  insight,  and  Moses  was  the  greatest  of  the 
prophets  (Deut.  xxxiv.  io).  To  him,  therefore,  it  was 
given  to  confirm  the  courage  of  his  nation  by  this 
exalting  thought  of  God.  And  the  Lord  proceeds  to 
state  what  His  promises  to  the  patriarchs  were,  and 
joins  together  (as  we  should  do)  the  assurance  of  His 
compassionate  heart  and  of  His  inviolable  pledges :  u  I 
have  heard  the  groaning  of  the  children  of  Israel,  .  .  . 
and  I  have  remembered  My  covenant.” 

It  has  been  the  same,  in  turn,  with  every  new 
revelation  of  the  Divine.  The  new  was  implicit  in  the 
old,  but  when  enforced,  unfolded,  reapplied,  men  found 
it  charged  with  unsuspected  meaning  and  power,  and 
as  full  of  vitality  and  development  as  a  handful  of  dry 
seeds  when  thrown  into  congenial  soil.  So  it  was 
pre-eminently  with  the  doctrine  of  the  Messiah.  It  will 
be  the  same  hereafter  wTith  the  doctrine  of  the  kingdom 
of  peace  and  the  reign  of  the  saints  on  earth.  Some 
day  men  will  smile  at  our  crude  theories  and  ignorant 
controversies  about  the  Millennium.  We,  meantime, 
possess  the  saving  knowdedge  of  Christ  amid  many  per¬ 
plexities  and  obscurities.  And  so  the  patriarchs,  wrho 
knew  God  Almighty,  but  not  by  His  name  Jehovah, 
wrere  not  lost  for  want  of  the  knowledge  of  His  name, 
but  saved  by  faith  in  Him,  in  the  living  Being  to 


vi.  1-30.]  THE  ENCOURAGEMENT  OF  MOSES. 


101 


Whom  all  these  names  belong,  and  Who  shall  yet 
write  upon  the  brows  of  His  people  some  new  name, 
hitherto  undreamed  by  the  ripest  of  the  saints  and  the 
purest  of  the  Churches.  Meantime,  let  us  learn  the 
lessons  of  tolerance  for  other  men's  ignorance,  remem¬ 
bering  the  ignorance  of  the  father  of  the  faithful, 
tolerance  for  difference  of  views,  remembering  how 
the  unusual  and  rare  name  of  God  was  really  the 
precursor  of  a  brighter  revelation,  and  yet  again,  when 
our  hearts  are  faint  with  longing  for  new  light,  and 
weary  to  death  of  the  babbling  of  old  words,  let  us 
learn  a  sober  and  cautious  reconsideration,  lest  perhaps 
the  very  truth  needed  for  altered  circumstance  and 
changing  problem  may  lie,  unheeded  and  dormant, 
among  the  dusty  old  phrases  from  which  we  turn  away 
despairingly.  Moreover,  since  the  fathers  knew  the 
name  Jehovah,  yet  gained  from  it  no  special  knowledge 
of  God,  such  as  they  had  from  His  Almightiness,  we 
are  taught  that  discernment  is  often  more  at  fault 
than  revelation.  To  the  quick  perception  and  plastic 
imagination  of  the  artist,  our  world  reveals  what  the 
boor  will  never  see.  And  the  saint  finds,  in  the 
homely  and  familiar  words  of  Scripture,  revelations 
for  His  soul  that  are  unknown  to  common  men. 
Receptivity  is  what  we  need  far  more  than  revelation. 

Again  is  Moses  bidden  to  appeal  to  the  faith  of 
his  countrymen,  by  a  solemn  repetition  of  the  Divine 
promise.  If  the  tyranny  is  great,  they  shall  be  redeemed 
with  a  stretched  out  arm,  that  is  to  say,  with  a  palpable 
interposition  of  the  power  of  God,  “and  with  great 
judgments."  It  is  the  first  appearance  in  Scripture 
of  this  phrase,  afterwards  so  common.  Not  mere 
vengeance  upon  enemies  or  vindication  of  subjects  is  in 
question  :  the  thought  is  that  of  a  deliberate  weighing 


102 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


of  merits,  and  rendering  cut  of  measured  penalties. 
Now,  the  Egyptian  mythology  had  a  very  clear  and 
solemn  view  of  judgment  after  death.  If  king  and 
people  had  grown  cruel,  it  was  because  they  failed 
to  realise  remote  punishments,  and  did  not  believe  in 
present  judgments,  here,  in  this  life.  But  there  is  a 
God  that  judgeth  in  the  earth.  Not  always,  for  mercy 
rejoiceth  over  judgment.  We  may  still  pray,  u  Enter  not 
into  judgment  with  Thy  servants,  O  Lord,  for  in  Thy 
sight  shall  no  man  living  be  justified.”  But  when  men 
resist  warnings,  then  retribution  begins  even  here. 
Sometimes  it  comes  in  plague  and  overthrow,  some¬ 
times  in  the  worse  form  of  a  heart  made  fat,  the  decay 
of  sensibilities  abused,  the  dying  out  of  spiritual  faculty. 
Pharaoh  was  to  experience  both,  the  hardening  of  his 
heart  and  the  ruin  of  his  fortunes. 

It  is  added,  “  I  will  take  you  to  Me  for  a  people,  and 
I  will  be  to  you  for  a  God.”  This  is  the  language,  not 
of  a  mere  purpose,  a  will  that  has  resolved  to  vindicate 
the  right,  but  of  affection.  God  is  about  to  adopt 
Israel  to  Himself,  and  the  same  favour  which  belonged 
to  rare  individuals  in  the  old  time  is  now  offered  to 
a  whole  nation.  Just  as  the  heart  of  each  man  is 
gradually  educated,  learning  first  to  love  a  parent  and 
a  family,  and  so  led  on  to  national  patriotism,  and  at 
last  to  a  world-wide  philanthropy,  so  was  the  religious 
conscience  of  mankind  awakened  to  believe  that 
Abraham  might  be  the  friend  of  God,  and  then  that 
His  oath  might  be  confirmed  unto  the  children,  and 
then  that  He  could  take  Israel  to  Himself  for  a  people, 
and  at  last  that  God  loved  the  world. 

It  is  not  religion  to  think  that  God  condescends  merely 
to  save  us.  He  cares  for  us.  He  takes  us  to  Himself. 
He  gives  Himself  away  to  us,  in  return,  to  be  our  God. 


vi.  1-30.3  THE  ENCOURAGEMENT  OF  MOSES. 


103 


Such  a  revelation  ought  to  have  been  more  to  Israel 
than  any  pledge  of  certain  specified  advantages.  It 
was  meant  to  be  a  silken  tie,  a  golden  clasp,  to  draw 
together  the  almighty  Heart  and  the  hearts  of  these 
downtrodden  slaves.  Something  within  Him  desires 
their  little  human  love ;  they  shall  be  to  Him  for  a 
people.  So  He  said  again,  “  My  son,  give  Me  thine 
heart.”  And  so,  when  He  carried  to  the  uttermost 
these  unsought,  unhoped  for,  and,  alas  !  un welcomed 
overtures  of  condescension,  and  came  among  us,  He 
would  have  gathered,  as  a  hen  gathers  her  chickens 
under  her  wings,  those  who  would  not.  It  is  not  man 
who  conceives,  from  definite  services  received,  the  wild 
hope  of  some  spark  of  real  affection  in  the  bosom  of 
the  Eternal  and  Mysterious  One.  It  is  not  man,  amid 
the  lavish  joys  and  splendours  of  creation,  who  conceives 
the  notion  of  a  supreme  Heart,  as  the  explanation  of  the 
universe.  It  is  God  Himself  Who  says,  “  I  will  take 
you  to  Me  for  a  people,  and  I  will  be  to  you  a  God.” 

Nor  is  it  human  conversion  that  begins  the  process, 
but  a  Divine  covenant  and  pledge,  by  which  God  would 
fain  convert  us  to  Himself ;  even  as  the  first  disciples 
did  not  accost  Jesus,  but  He  turned  and  spoke  to  them 
the  first  question  and  the  first  invitation  :  “  What  seek 
ye  ?  .  .  .  Come,  and  ye  shall  see.” 

To-day,  the  choice  of  the  civilised  world  has  to  be 
made  between  a  mechanical  universe  and  a  revealed 
love,  for  no  third  possibility^  survives. 

This  promise  establishes  a  relationship,  which  God 
never  afterwards  cancelled.  Human  unbelief  rejected 
its  benefits,  and  chilled  the  mutual  sympathies  which  it 
involved  ;  but  the  fact  always  remained,  and  in  their 
darkest  hour  they  could  appeal  to  God  to  remember 
Ills  covenant  and  the  oath  which  He  sware. 


104 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


And  this  same  assurance  belongs  to  us.  We  are 
not  to  become  good,  or  desirous  of  goodness,  in  order 
that  God  may  requite  with  affection  our  virtues  or  our 
wistfulness.  Rather  we  are  to  arise  and  come  to  our 
Father,  and  to  call  Him  Father,  although  we  are  not 
worthy  to  be  called  His  sons.  We  are  to  remember 
how  Jesus  said,  “If  ye  being  evil  know  how  to  give  good 
gifts  unto  your  children,  how  much  more  shall  your 
heavenly  Father  give  His  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask 
Him  !  "  and  to  learn  that  He  is  the  Father  of  those  who 
are  evil,  and  even  of  those  who  are  still  un pardoned,  as 
He  said  again,  “  If  ye  forgive  not  .  .  .  neither  will  your 
heavenly  Father  forgive  you." 

Much  controversy  about  the  universal  Fatherhood  of 
God  would  be  assuaged  if  men  reflected  upon  the  signifi¬ 
cant  distinction  which  our  Saviour  drew  between  His 
Fatherhood  and  our  son  ship,  the  one  always  a  reality 
of  the  Divine  affection,  the  other  only  a  possibility,  for 
human  enjoyment  or  rejection  :  “  Love  your  enemies, 
and  pray  for  them  that  persecute  you,  that  ye  may  be 
sons  of  your  Father  Which  is  in  heaven"  (Matt.  v.  45). 
There  is  no  encouragement  to  presumption  in  the  asser¬ 
tion  of  the  Divine  Fatherhood  upon  such  terms.  For 
it  speaks  of  a  love  which  is  real  and  deep  without  being 
feeble  and  indiscriminate.  It  appeals  to  faith  because 
there  is  an  absolute  fact  to  lean  upon,  and  to  energy 
because  privilege  is  conditional.  It  reminds  us  that  our 
relationship  is  like  that  of  the  ancient  Israel, — that  we 
are  in  a  covenant,  as  they  were,  but  that  the  carcases 
of  many  of  them  fell  in  the  wilderness ;  although  God 
had  taken  them  for  a  people,  and  was  to  them  a  God, 
and  said,  “Israel  is  My  son,  even  My  firstborn." 

It  is  added  that  faith  shall  develop  into  knowledge. 
Moses  is  to  assure  them  now  that  they  “shall  know" 


vi.  1-30.]  THE  ENCOURAGEMENT  OF  MOSES. 


105 


hereafter  that  the  Lord  is  Jehovah  their  God.  And 
this,  too,  is  a  universal  law,  that  we  shall  know  if  wc 
follow  on  to  know :  that  the  trial  of  our  faith  worketh 
patience,  and  patience  experience,  and  we  have  so 
dim  and  vague  an  apprehension  of  Divine  realities, 
chiefly  because  we  have  made  but  little  trial,  and  have 
not  tasted  and  seen  that  the  Lord  is  gracious. 

In  this  respect,  as  in  so  many  more,  religion  is 
analogous  with  nature.  The  squalor  of  the  savage 
could  be  civilised,  and  the  distorted  and  absurd  con¬ 
ceptions  of  mediaeval  science  could  be  corrected,  only 
by  experiment,  persistently  and  wisely  carried  out. 

And  it  is  so  in  religion  :  its  true  evidence  is  unknown 
to  these  who  never  bore  its  yoke ;  it  is  open  to  just 
such  raillery  and  rejection  as  they  who  will  not  love 
can  pour  upon  domestic  affection  and  the  sacred  ties  of 
family  life ;  but,  like  these,  it  vindicates  itself,  in  the 
rest  of  their  souls,  to  those  who  will  take  the  yoke  and 
learn.  And  its  best  wisdom  is  not  of  the  cunning 
brain  but  of  the  open  heart,  that  wisdom  from  above, 
which  is  first  pure,  then  peaceable,  gentle,  and  easy  to 
be  entreated. 

And  thus,  while  God  leads  Israel,  they  shall  know 
that  He  is  Jehovah,  and  true  to  His  highest  revelations 
of  Himself. 

All  this  they  heard,  and  also,  to  define  their  hope 
and  brighten  it,  the  promise  of  Palestine  was  repeated ; 
but  they  hearkened  not  unto  Moses  for  anguish  of 
spirit  and  for  cruel  bondage.  Thus  the  body  often 
holds  the  spirit  down,  and  kindly  allowance  is  made 
by  Him  Who  knoweth  our  frame  and  remembereth  that 
we  are  dust,  and  Who,  in  the  hour  of  His  own  agony, 
found  the  excuse  for  His  unsympathising  followers  that 
the  spirit  was  willing  although  the  flesh  was  weak.  So 


io6 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


when  Elijah  made  request  for  himself  that  he  might 
die,  in  the  utter  reaction  which  followed  his  triumph  on 
Carmel  and  his  wild  race  to  Jezreel,  the  good  Physician 
did  not  dazzle  him  with  new  splendours  of  revelation 
until  after  he  had  slept,  and  eaten  miraculous  food,  and 
a  second  time  slept  and  eaten. 

But  if  the  anguish  of  the  body  excuses  much  weak¬ 
ness  of  the  spirit,  it  follows,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
men  are  responsible  to  God  for  that  heavy  weight 
which  is  laid  upon  the  spirit  by  pampered  and  luxurious 
bodies,  incapable  of  self-sacrifice,  rebellious  against  the 
lightest  of  His  demands.  It  is  suggestive,  that  Moses, 
when  sent  again  to  Pharaoh,  objected,  as  at  first : 
°  Behold,  the  children  of  Israel  have  not  hearkened 
unto  me;  how  then  shall  Pharaoh  hear  me,  who  am 
of  uncircumcised  lips  ?  ” 

Every  new  hope,  every  great  inspiration  which  calls 
the  heroes  of  God  to  a  fresh  attack  upon  the  powers  of 
Satan,  is  checked  and  hindered  more  by  the  coldness 
of  the  Church  than  by  the  hostility  of  the  world.  That 
hostility  is  expected,  and  can  be  defied.  But  the 
infidelity  of  the  faithful  is  appalling  indeed. 

We  read  with  wonder  the  great  things  which  Christ 
has  promised  to  believing  prayer,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  although  we  know  painfully  that  we  have  never 
claimed  and  dare  not  claim  these  promises,  wTe  wonder 
equally  at  the  foreboding  question,  “  When  the  Son 
of  Man  cometh,  shall  fie  find  the  faith  (faith  in 
its  fulness)  on  the  earth  ?  ”  (Luke  xviii.  8).  But  we 
ought  to  remember  that  our  own  low  standard  helps  to 
form  the  standard  of  attainment  for  the  Church  at  large 
- — that  when  one  member  suffers,  all  the  members  suffer 
with  it — that  many  a  large  sacrifice  would  be  readily 
made  for  Christ,  at  this  hour,  if  only  ease  and  pleasure 


VI.  1-30.]  THE  ENCOURAGEMENT  OF  MOSES. 


107 


were  at  stake,  which  is  refused  because  it  is  too  hard 
to  be  called  well-meaning  enthusiasts  by  those  who 
ought  to  glorify  God  in  such  attainment,  as  the  first 
brethren  did  in  the  zeal  and  the  gifts  of  Paul. 

The  vast  mountains  raise  their  heads  above  mountain 
ranges  which  encompass  them ;  and  it  is  not  when  the 
level  of  the  whole  Church  is  low,  that  giants  of  faith 
and  of  attainment  may  be  hoped  for.  Nay,  Christ 
stipulates  for  the  agreement  of  two  or  three,  to  kindle 
and  make  effectual  the  prayers  which  shall  avail. 

For  the  purification  of  our  cities,  for  the  shaming 
of  our  legislation  until  it  fears  God  as  much  as  a 
vested  interest,  for  the  reunion  of  those  who  worship 
the  same  Lord,  for  the  conversion  of  the  world,  and 
first  of  all  for  the  conversion  of  the  Church,  heroic 
forces  are  demanded.  But  all  the  tendency  of  our 
half-hearted,  abject,  semi-Christianity  is  to  repress 
ever}?thing  that  is  unconventional,  abnormal,  likely  to 
embroil  us  with  our  natural  enemy,  the  world ;  and 
who  can  doubt  that,  when  the  secrets  of  all  hearts 
shall  be  revealed,  we  shall  know  of  many  an  aspiring 
soul,  in  which  the  sacred  fire  had  begun  to  burn, 
which  sank  back  into  lethargy  and  the  commonplace, 
murmuring  in  its  despair,  “  Behold,  the  children  of 
Israel  have  not  hearkened  unto  me ;  how  then  shall 
Pharaoh  hear  me  ?  ” 

It  was  the  last  fear  which  ever  shook  the  great  heart 
of  the  emancipator  Moses. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  grand  historical  work,  of 
which  all  this  has  been  the  prelude,  there  is  set  the 
pedigree  of  Moses  and  Aaron,  according  to  11  the  heads 
of  their  fathers’  houses,” — an  epithet  wThich  indicates 
a  subdivision  of  the  a  family,”  as  the  family  is  a  sub¬ 
division  of  the  tribe.  Of  the  sons  of  Jacob,  Reuben 


io8 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


ar^d  Simeon  are  mentioned,  to  put  Levi  in  his  natural 
third  place.  And  from  Levi  to  Moses  only  four 
generations  are  mentioned,  favouring  somewhat  the 
briefer  scheme  of  chronology  which  makes  four 
centuries  cover  all  the  time  from  Abraham,  and  not  the 
captivity  alone.  But  it  is  certain  that  this  is  a  mere 
recapitulation  of  the  more  important  links  in  the 
genealogy.  In  Num.  xxvi.  58,  59,  six  generations  are 
reckoned  instead  of  four ;  in  I  Chron.  ii.  3  there  are 
seven  generations ;  and  elsewhere  in  the  same  book 
(vi.  22)  there  are  ten.  It  is  well  known  that  similar 
omissions  of  obscure  or  unworthy  links  occur  in  St. 
Matthew’s  pedigree  of  our  Lord,  although  some  stress 
is  there  laid  upon  the  recurrent  division  into  fourteens. 
And  it  is  absurd  to  found  any  argument  against  the 
trustworthiness  of  the  narrative  upon  a  phenomenon 
so  frequent,  and  so  sure  to  be  avoided  by  a  forger,  or 
to  be  corrected  by  an  unscrupulous  editor.  In  point 
of  fact,  nothing  is  less  likely  to  have  occurred,  if  the 
narrative  were  a  late  invention. 

Neither,  in  that  case,  would  the  birth  of  the  great 
emancipator  be  ascribed  to  the  union  of  Amram  with 
his  father’s  sister,  for  such  marriages  were  distinctly 
forbidden  by  the  law  (Lev.  xviii.  14). 

Nor  would  the  names  of  the  children  of  the  founder 
of  the  nation  be  omitted,  while  those  of  Aaron  are 
recorded,  unless  we  were  dealing  with  genuine  history, 
which  knows  that  the  sons  of  Aaron  inherited  the 
lawful  priesthood,  while  the  descendants  of  Moses 
were  the  jealous  founders  of  a  mischievous  schism 
(Judges  xviii.  30,  R.V.). 

Nor  again,  if  this  were  a  religious  romance,  designed 
to  animate  the  nation  in  its  later  struggles,  should  we 
read  of  the  hesitation  and  the  fears  of  a  leader  "  of 


vl  1-30.]  THE  ENCOURAGEMENT  OF  MOSES. 


109 


uncircumcised  lips,”  instead  of  the  trumpet-like  calls 
to  action  of  a  noble  champion. 

Nor  does  the  broken-spirited  meanness  of  Israel 
at  all  resemble  the  conception,  popular  in  every  nation, 
of  a  virtuous  and  heroic  antiquity,  a  golden  age.  It  is 
indeed  impossible  to  reconcile  the  motives  and  the 
date  to  which  this  narrative  is  ascribed  by  some, 
with  the  plain  phenomena,  with  the  narrative  itself. 

Nor  is  it  easy  to  understand  why  the  Lord,  Who 
speaks  of  bringing  out  il  My  hosts,  My  people,  the 
children  of  Israel”  (vii.  4,  etc.),  should  never  in  the 
Pentateuch  be  called  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  if  that  title 
were  in  common  use  when  it  was  written ;  for  no 
epithet  would  better  suit  the  song  of  Miriam  or  the 
poetry  of  the  Fifth  Book. 

When  Moses  complained  that  he  was  of  un¬ 
circumcised  lips,  the  Lord  announced  that  He  had 
already  made  His  servant  as  a  god  unto  Pharaoh, 
having  armed  him,  even  then,  with  the  terrors  which 
are  soon  to  shake  the  tyrant’s  soul. 

It  is  suggestive  and  natural  that  his  very  education 
in  a  court  should  render  him  fastidious,  less  willing 
than  a  rougher  man  might  have  been  to  appear  before 
the  king  after  forty  years  of  retirement,  and  feeling 
almost  physically  incapable  of  speaking  what  he  felt  so 
deeply,  in  words  that  wTould  satisfy  his  own  judgment. 
Yet  God  had  endowed  him,  even  then,  with  a 
supernatural  power  far  greater  than  any  facility  of 
expression.  In  his  weakness  he  would  thus  be  made 
strong ;  and  the  less  fit  he  was  to  assert  for  himself 
any  ascendency  over  Pharaoh,  the  more  signal  would 
be  the  victory  of  his  Lord,  when  he  became  ‘‘very 
great  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  in  the  sight  of  Pharaoh’s 
servants,  and  in  the  sight  of  the  people  ”  (xi.  3). 


I IC 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


As  a  proof  of  this  mastery  he  was  from  the  first 
to  speak  to  the  haughty  king  through  his  brother, 
as  a  god  through  some  prophet,  being  too  great  to 
reveal  himself  directly.  It  is  a  memorable  phrase; 
and  so  lofty  an  assertion  could  never,  in  the  myth 
of  a  later  period,  have  been  ascribed  to  an  origin 
so  lowly  as  the  reluctance  of  Moses  to  expose  his 
deficiency  in  elocution. 

Therefore  he  should  henceforth  be  emboldened  by 
the  assurance  of  qualification  bestowed  already  :  not 
only  b}'  the  hope  of  help  and  achievement  yet  to  come, 
but  by  the  certainty  of  present  endowment.  And  so 
should  each  of  us,  in  his  degree,  be  bold,  who  have 
gifts  differing  according  to  the  grace  given  unto  us. 

It  is  certain  that  every  living  soul  has  at  least  one 
talent,  and  is  bound  to  improve  it.  But  how  many  of 
us  remember  that  this  loan  implies  a  commission  from 
God,  as  real  as  that  of  prophet  and  deliverer,  and 
that  nothing  but  our  own  default  can  prevent  it  from 
being,  at  the  last,  received  again  with  usury  ? 

The  same  bravery,  the  same  confidence  when 
standing  where  his  Captain  has  planted  him,  should 
inspire  the  prophet,  and  him  that  giveth  alms,  and 
him  that  showeth  mercy;  for  all  are  members  in  one 
body,  and  therefore  animated  by  one  invincible  Spirit 
from  above  (Rom.  xii.  4-9). 

The  endowment  thus  given  to  Moses  made  him  “as 
a  god  ”  to  Pharaoh. 

We  must  not  take  this  to  mean  only  that  he  had  a 
prophet  or  spokesman,  or  that  he  was  made  formidable, 
but  that  the  peculiar  nature  of  his  prowess  would  be 
felt.  It  was  not  his  own  strength.  The  supernatural 
would  become  visible  in  him.  He  who  boasted  “  I 
know  not  Jehovah  ”  would  come  to  crouch  before  Him 


vi.  1-30.]  THE  ENCOURAGEMENT  OF  MOSES. 


hi 


in  His  agent,  and  humble  himself  to  the  man  whom 
once  he  contemptuously  ordered  back  to  his  burdens, 
with  the  abject  prayer,  “  Forgive,  I  pray  thee,  my  sin 
only  this  once,  and  entreat  Jehovah  your  God  that 
He  may  take  away  from  me  this  death  only." 

Now,  every  consecrated  power  may  bear  witness  to 
the  Lord  :  it  is  possible  to  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God. 
Not  that  every  separate  action  will  be  ascribed  to  a 
preternatural  source,  but  the  sum  total  of  the  effect 
produced  by  a  holy  life  will  be  sacred.  He  who  said, 
“  I  have  made  thee  a  god  unto  Pharaoh,"  says  of  all 
believers,  u  I  in  them,  and  Thou,  Father,  in  Me,  that 
the  world  may  know  that  Thou  hast  sent  Me." 


CHAPTER  VII. 


THE  HARDENING  OF  PHARAOHS  HEART. 


vii.  3-13. 

WHEN  Moses  received  his  commission,  at  the 
bush,  words  were  spoken  which  are  now 
repeated  with  more  emphasis,  and  which  have  to  be 
considered  carefully.  For  probably  no  statement  of 
Scripture  has  excited  fiercer  criticism,  more  exultation 
of  enemies  and  perplexity  of  friends,  than  that  the 
Lord  said,  “I  will  harden  Pharaoh's  heart,  and  he  shall 
not  let  the  people  go,”  and  that  in  consequence  of  this 
Divine  act  Pharaoh  sinned  and  suffered.  Just  because 
the  words  are  startling,  it  is  unjust  to  quote  them 
without  careful  examination  of  the  context,  both  in  the 
prediction  and  the  fulfilment.  When  all  is  weighed, 
compared,  and  harmonised,  it  will  at  last  be  possible 
to  draw  a  just  conclusion.  And  although  it  may 
happen  long  before  then,  that  the  objector  will  charge 
us  with  special  pleading,  yet  he  will  be  the  special 
pleader  himself,  if  he  seeks  to  hurry  us,  by  prejudice 
or  passion,  to  give  a  verdict  which  is  based  upon 
less  than  all  the  evidence,  patiently  weighed. 

Let  us  in  the  first  place  find  out  how  soon  this 
dreadful  process  began  ;  when  was  it  that  God  fulfilled 
His  threat,  and  hardened,  in  any  sense  whatever,  the 
heart  of  Pharaoh  ?  Did  He  step  in  at  the  beginning, 


vii. 3-13.]  THE  HARDENING  OF  PHARAOH'S  HEART.  1 13 


and  render  the  unhappy  king  incapable  of  weighing 
the  remonstrances  which  He  then  performed  the  cruel 
mockery  of  addressing  to  him  ?  Were  these  as  in¬ 
sincere  and  futile  as  if  one  bade  the  avalanche  to  pause 
which  his  own  act  had  started  down  the  icy  slopes  ? 
Was  Pharaoh  as  little  responsible  for  his  pursuit  of 
Israel  as  his  horses  were — being,  like  them,  the  blind 
agents  of  a  superior  force  ?  We  do  not  find  it  so.  In 
the  fifth  chapter,  when  a  demand  is  made,  without  any 
sustaining  miracle,  simply  appealing  to  the  conscience 
of  the  ruler,  there  is  no  mention  of  any  such  process, 
despite  the  insults  with  which  Pharaoh  then  assails 
both  the  messengers  and  Jehovah  Himself,  Whom  he 
knows  not.  In  the  seventh  chapter  there  is  clear 
evidence  that  the  process  is  yet  unaccomplished ;  for, 
speaking  of  an  act  still  future,  it  declares,  “I  will 
harden  Pharaoh’s  heart,  and  multiply  My  signs  and 
My  wonders  in  the  land  of  Egypt”  (vii.  3).  And  this 
terrible  act  is  not  connected  with  the  remonstrances 
and  warnings  of  God,  but  entirely  with  the  increasing 
pressure  of  the  miracles. 

The  exact  period  is  marked  when  the  hand  of 
doom  closed  upon  the  tyrant.  It  is  not  where  the 
Authorised  Version  places  it.  When  the  magicians 
imitated  the  earlier  signs  of  Moses,  “his  heart  was 
strong,”  but  the  original  does  not  bear  out  the  assertion 
that  at  this  time  the  Lord  made  it  so  by  any  judicial 
act  of  His  (vii.  13).  That  only  comes  with  the  sixth 
plague  ;  and  the  course  of  events  may  be  traced,  fairly 
well,  by  the  help  of  the  margin  of  the  Revised  Version. 

After  the  plague  of  blood  “  Pharaoh’s  heart  was 
strong”  (“hardened”),  and  this  is  distinctly  ascribed 
to  his  own  action,  because  “he  set  his  heart  even  to 
this”  (vii.  22,  23). 


8 


U4 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


After  the  second  plague,  it  was  still  he  himself  who 
11  made  his  heart  heavy  ”  (viii.  15). 

After  the  third  plague  the  magicians  warned  him 
that  the  very  finger  of  some  god  was  upon  him  indeed: 
their  rivalry,  which  hitherto  might  have  been  somewhat 
of  a  palliation  for  his  obstinacy,  v/as  now  ended  ;  but 
yet  “  his  heart  was  strong  ”  (viii.  19). 

Again,  after  the  fourth  plague  he  u  made  his  heart 
heavy  ”  ;  and  it  "  was  heavy  ”  after  the  fifth  plague, 
(viii.  32,  ix.  7). 

Only  thenceforward  comes  the  judicial  infatuation 
upon  him  wTho  has  resolutely  infatuated  himself  hitherto. 

But  when  five  warnings  and  penalties  have  spent 
their  force  in  vain,  when  personal  agony  is  inflicted  in 
the  plague  of  boils,  and  the  magicians  in  particular 
cannot  stand  before  him  through  their  pain,  w7ould  it 
have  been  proof  of  virtuous  contrition  if  he  had  yielded 
then  ?  If  he  had  needed  evidence,  it  was  given  to 
him  long  before.  Submission  now7  would  have  meant 
prudence,  not  penitence ;  and  it  wras  against  prudence, 
not  penitence,  that  he  wTas  hardened.  Because  he  had 
resisted  evidence,  experience,  and  even  the  testimony 
of  his  own  magicians,  he  was  therefore  stiffened  against 
the  grudging  and  umverthy  concessions  which  must 
otherwise  have  been  wrested  from  him,  as  a  w7ild  beast 
will  turn  and  fly  from  fire.  He  was  henceforth  him¬ 
self  to  become  an  evidence  and  a  portent ;  and  so 
"The  Lord  made  strong  the  heart  of  Pharaoh,  and  he 
hearkened  not  unto  them”  (ix.  12).  It  was  an  awful 
doom,  but  it  is  not  open  to  the  attacks  so  often  made 
upon  it.  It  only  means  that  for  him  the  last  five 
plagues  were  not  disciplinary,  but  wTholly  penal. 

Nay,  it  stops  short  of  asserting  even  this  :  they 
might  still  have  appealed  to  his  reason  ;  they  were  only 


vii.  3-13.]  THE  HARDENING  OF  PHARAOH'S  HEART.  115 


not  allowed  to  crush  him  by  the  agency  of  terror.  Not 
once  is  it  asserted  that  God  hardened  his  heart  against 
any  nobler  impulse  than  alarm,  and  desire  to  evade 
danger  and  death.  We  see  clearly  this  meaning  in 
the  phrase,  when  it  is  applied  to  his  army  entering 
the  Red  Sea :  “  I  will  make  strong  the  hearts  of  the 
Egyptians,  and  they  shall  go  in”  (xiv.  17).  It  needed 
no  greater  moral  turpitude  to  pursue  the  Hebrews  over 
the  sands  than  on  the  shore,  but  it  certainly  required 
more  hardihood.  But  the  unpursued  departure  which 
the  good-will  of  Egypt  refused,  their  common  sense 
was  not  allowed  to  grant.  Callousness  was  followed 
by  infatuation,  as  even  the  pagans  felt  that  whom  God 
wills  to  ruin  He  first  drives  mad. 

This  explanation  implies  that  to  harden  Pharaoh’s 
heart  was  to  inspire  him,  not  with  wickedness,  but 
with  nerve. 

And  as  far  as  the  original  language  helps  us  at 
all,  it  decidedly  supports  this  view.  Three  different 
expressions  have  been  unhappily  rendered  by  the 
same  English  word,  to  harden ;  but  they  may  be  dis¬ 
criminated  throughout  the  narrative  in  Exodus,  by  the 
margin  of  the  Revised  Version. 

One  word,  which  commonly  appears  without  any 
marginal  explanation,  is  the  same  which  is  employed 
elsewhere  about  “  the  cause  which  is  too  hard  for  ” 
minor  judges  (Deut.  i.  17,  cf.  xv.  18,  etc.).  Now, 
this  word  is  found  (vii.  13)  in  the  second  threat  that 
“  I  will  harden  Pharaoh’s  heart,”  and  in  the  account 
which  was  to  be  given  to  posterity  of  how  “  Pharaoh 
hardened  himself  to  let  us  go”  (xiii.  15).  And  it  is  said 
likewise  of  Sihon,  king  of  Heshbon,  that  he  “  would  not 
let  us  pass  by  him,  for  the  Lord  thy  Gcd  hardened  his 
spirit  and  made  his  heart  strong  ”  (Deut.  ii.  30).  But 


ii6 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


since  it  does  not  occur  anywhere  in  all  the  narrative 
of  what  God  actually  did  with  Pharaoh,  it  is  only  just 
to  interpret  this  phrase  in  the  prediction  by  what  we 
read  elsewhere  of  the  manner  of  its  fulfilment. 

The  second  word  is  explained  in  the  margin  as 
meaning  to  make  strong.  Already  God  had  employed 
it  when  He  said  “  I  will  make  strong  his  heart  "  (iv.  21), 
and  this  is  the  term  used  of  the  first  fulfilment  of  the 
menace,  after  the  sixth  plague  (ix.  12).  God  is  not 
said  to  interfere  again  after  the  seventh,  which  had  few 
special  terrors  for  Pharaoh  himself;  but  from  hence¬ 
forth  the  expression  “to  make  strong "  alternates  wfith 
the  phrase  "  to  make  heavy.”  “  Go  in  unto  Pharaoh, 
for  I  have  made  heavy  his  heart  and  the  heart  of  his 
servants,  that  I  might  show  these  My  signs  in  the 
midst  of  them"  (x.  1). 

It  may  be  safely  assumed  that  these  twro  expressions 
cover  between  them  all  that  is  asserted  of  the  judicial 
action  of  God  in  preventing  a  recoil  of  Pharaoh  from 
his  calamities.  Now,  the  strengthening  of  a  heart, 
however  punitive  and  disastrous  w7hen  a  man’s  will 
is  evil  (just  as  the  strengthening  of  his  arm  is  dis¬ 
astrous  then),  has  in  itself  no  immorality  inherent. 
It  is  a  thing  as  often  good  as  bad, — as  when  Israel 
and  Joshua  are  exhorted  to  “  Be  strong  and  of  a  good 
courage"  (Deut.  xxxi.  6,  7,  23),  and  when  the  angel 
laid  his  hand  upon  Daniel  and  said,  “Be  strong, 
yea,  be  strong"  (Dan.  x.  19).  In  these  passages 
the  phrase  is  identical  with  that  which  describes  the 
process  by  which  Pharaoh  was  prevented  from  cower¬ 
ing  under  the  tremendous  blows  he  had  provoked. 

The  other  expression  is  to  make  heavy  or  dull. 
Thus  “the  eyes  of  Israel  were  heavy  with  age”  (Gen. 
xlviii.  10),  and  as  we  speak  of  a  weight  of  honour, 


vii. 3-13.]  THE  HARDENING  OF  PHARAOH'S  HEART,  x  17 


equally  with  the  heaviness  of  a  dull  man,  so  we  are 
twice  commanded,  “  Make  heavy  (honour)  thy  father 
and  thy  mother  "  ;  and  the  Lord  declares,  11 1  will  make 
Myself  heavy  (get  Me  honour)  upon  Pharaoh"  (Deut. 
v.  1 6,  Exod.  xx.  12,  xiv.  4,  17,  18).  In  these  latter 
references  it  will  be  observed  that  the  making  “ strong" 
the  heart  of  Pharaoh,  and  the  making  “  Myself  heavy" 
are  so  connected  as  almost  to  show  a  design  of  indi¬ 
cating  how  far  is  either  expression  from  conveying  the 
notion  of  immorality,  infused  into  a  human  heart  by 
God.  For  one  of  the  two  phrases  which  have  been 
thus  interpreted  is  still  applied  to  Pharaoh ;  but  the 
other  (and  the  more  sinister,  as  we  should  think,  when 
thus  applied)  is  appropriated  by  God  to  Himself :  He 
makes  Himself  heavy. 

It  is  also  a  curious  and  significant  coincidence  that 
the  same  word  was  used  of  the  burdens  that  were 
made  heavy  when  first  they  claimed  their  freedom, 
which  is  now  used  of  the  treatment  of  the  heart  of 
their  oppressor  (v.  9). 

It  appears,  then,  that  the  Lord  is  never  said  to 
debauch  Pharaoh's  heart,  but  only  to  strengthen  it 
against  prudence  and  to  make  it  dull ;  that  the  words 
used  do  not  express  the  infusion  of  evil  passion,  but 
the  animation  of  a  resolute  courage,  and  the  overcloud¬ 
ing  of  a  natural  discernment ;  and,  above  all,  that  every 
one  of  the  three  words,  to  make  hard,  to  make  strong, 
and  to  make  heavy,  is  employed  to  express  Pharaoh's 
own  treatment  of  himself,  before  it  is  applied  to  any 
work  of  God,  as  actually  taking  place  already. 

Nevertheless,  there  is  a  solemn  warning  for  all  time, 
in  the  assertion  that  what  he  at  first  chose,  the  ven¬ 
geance  of  God  afterward  chose  for  him.  For  indeed 
the  same  process,  working  more  slowly  but  on  identical 


nS 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


lines,  is  constantly  seen  in  the  hardening  effect  of 
vicious  habit.  The  gambler  did  not  mean  to  stake  all 
his  fortune  upon  one  chance,  when  first  he  timidly 
laid  down  a  paltry  stake ;  nor  has  he  changed  his  mind 
since  then  as  to  the  imprudence  of  such  a  hazard.  The 
drunkard,  the  murderer  himself,  is  a  man  who  at  first 
did  evil  as  far  as  he  dared,  and  afterwards  dared  to  do 
evil  which  he  would  once  have  shuddered  at. 

Let  no  man  assume  that  prudence  will  always  save 
him  from  ruinous  excess,  if  respect  for  righteousness 
cannot  withhold  him  from  those  first  compliances  which 
sap  the  will,  destroy  the  restraint  of  self-respect,  wear 
away  the  horror  of  great  wickedness  by  familiarity 
with  the  same  guilt  in  its  lesser  phases,  and,  above  all, 
forfeit  the  enlightenment  and  calmness  of  judgment 
which  come  from  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  Who  is  the 
Spirit  of  wisdom  and  of  counsel,  and  makes  men  to  be 
of  quick  understanding  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord. 

Let  no  man  think  that  the  fear  of  damnation  will 
bring  him  to  the  mercy-seat  at  last,  if  the  burden  and 
gloom  of  being  “  condemned  already  ”  cannot  now  bend 
his  will.  il  Even  as  they  refused  to  have  God  in  their 
knowledge,  God  gave  them  up  unto  a  reprobate  mind  ” 
(Rom.  i.  28).  “I  gave  them  My  statutes  and  showed 
them  My  judgments,  which  if  a  man  do,  he  shall  even 
live  in  them.  ...  I  gave  them  statutes  that  were  not 
good,  and  judgments  wherein  they  should  not  live” 
(Ezek.  xx.  11,  25). 

This  is  the  inevitable  law,  the  law  of  a  confused  and 
darkened  judgment,  a  heart  made  heavy  and  ears  shut, 
a  conscience  seared,  an  infatuated  will  kicking  against 
the  pricks,  and  heaping  to  itself  wrath  against  the  day 
of  wrath.  Wilful  sin  is  always  a  challenge  to  God, 
and  it  is  avenged  by  the  obscuring  of  the  lamp  of  God 


vii.3-13.]  THE  HARDENING  OF  PHARAOH'S  HEART.  1 19 


in  the  soul.  Now,  a  part  of  His  guiding  light  is 
prudence ;  and  it  is  possible  that  men  who  will  not  be 
warned  by  the  fear  of  injury  to  their  conscience,  such 
as  they  suppose  that  Pharaoh  suffered,  may  be  sobered 
by  the  danger  of  such  derangement  of  their  intellectual 
efficiency  as  really  befel  him. 

In  this  sense  men  are,  at  last,  impelled  blindly  to 
their  fate  (and  this  is  a  judicial  act  of  God,  although  it 
comes  in  the  course  of  nature),  but  first  they  launch 
themselves  upon  the  slope  which  grows  steeper  at 
every  downward  step,  until  arrest  is  impossible. 

On  the  other  hand,  every  act  of  obedience  helps  to 
release  the  will  from  its  entanglement,  and  to  clear  the 
judgment  which  has  grown  dull,  anointing  the  eyes 
with  eye-salve  that  they  may  see.  Not  in  vain  is  the 
assertion  of  the  bondage  of  the  sinner  and  the  glorious 
liberty  of  the  children  of  God. 

A  second  time,  then,  Moses  presented  himself  before 
Pharaoh  with  his  demands ;  and,  as  he  had  been  fore¬ 
warned,  he  was  now  challenged  to  give  a  sign  in  proof 
of  his  commission  from  a  god. 

And  the  demand  was  treated  as  reasonable ;  a  sign 
was  given,  and  a  menacing  one.  The  peaceable  rod 
o-f  the  shepherd,  a  fit  symbol  of  the  meek  man  who 
bore  it,  became  a  serpent  *  before  the  king,  as  Moses 
was  to  become  destructive  to  his  realm.  But  when  the 
wise  men  of  Egypt  and  the  enchanters  were  called, 
they  did  likewise ;  and  although  a  marvel  was  added 


*  It  is  true  that  the  word  means  any  large  reptile,  as  when  “God 
created  great  whales  ” ;  but  doubtless  our  English  version  is  correct. 
It  was  certainly  a  serpent  which  he  had  recently  fled  from,  and  then 
taken  by  the  tail  (iv.  4).  And  unless  we  suppose  the  magicians  to 
have  wrought  a  genuine  miracle,  no  other  creature  can  be  suggested, 
equally  convenient  for  their  sleight  of  hand. 


120 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


which  incontestably  declared  the  superior  power  of 
the  Deity  Whom  Aaron  represented,  yet  their  rivalry 
sufficed  to  make  strong  the  heart  of  Pharaoh,  and  he 
would  not  let  the  people  go.  The  issue  w’as  now 
knit :  the  result  would  be  more  signal  than  if  the 
quarrel  were  decided  at  one  blow,  and  upon  all  the 
gods  of  Egypt  the  Lord  would  exercise  vengeance. 

What  are  we  to  think  of  the  authentification  of  a 
religion  by  a  sign  ?  Beyond  doubt,  Jesus  recognised 
this  aspect  of  His  own  miracles,  when  He  said,  "  If 
I  had  not  done  among  them  the  works  that  none 
other  man  did,  they  had  not  had  sin  ”  (John  xv.  24). 
And  yet  there  is  reason  in  the  objection  that  no  amount 
of  marvel  ought  to  deflect  by  one  hair’s  breadth  our 
judgment  of  right  and  wrong,  and  the  true  appeal  of 
a  religion  must  be  to  our  moral  sense. 

No  miracle  can  prove  that  immoral  teaching  is 
sacred.  But  it  can  prove  that  it  is  supernatural.  And 
this  is  precisely  what  Scripture  always  proclaims.  In 
the  New  Testament,  we  are  bidden  to  take  heed, 
because  a  day  will  come,  when  false  prophets  shall 
work  great  signs  and  wonders,  to  deceive,  if  possible, 
even  the  elect  (Mark  xiii.  22).  In  the  Old  Testament, 
a  prophet  may  seduce  the  people  to  worship  other  gods, 
by  giving  them  a  sign  or  a  wonder  which  shall  come 
to  pass,  but  they  must  surely  stone  him  :  they  must 
believe  that  his  sign  is  only  a  temptation  ;  and  above 
whatever  power  enabled  him  to  work  it,  they  must 
recognise  Jehovah  proving  them,  and  know  that  the 
supernatural  has  come  to  them  in  judgment,  not  in 
revelation  (Deut.  xiii.  1-5). 

Now,  this  is  the  true  function  of  the  miraculous. 
At  the  most,  it  cannot  coerce  the  conscience,  but  only 
challenge  it  to  consider  and  to  judge. 


vii.  14.] 


THE  PLAGUES. 


121 


A  teacher  of  the  purest  morality  may  be  only  a 
human  teacher  still ;  nor  is  the  Christian  bound  to 
follow  into  the  desert  every  clamorous  innovator,  or 
to  seek  in  the  secret  chamber  every  one  who  whispers 
a  private  doctrine  to  a  few.  We  are  entitled  to  expect 
that  one  who  is  commissioned  directly  from  above 
will  bear  special  credentials  with  him ;  but  when  these 
are  exhibited,  we  must  still  judge  whether  the 
document  they  attest  is  forged.  And  this  may  explain 
to  us  why  the  magicians  were  allowed  for  awhile  to 
perplex  the  judgment  of  Pharaoh — whether  by  fraud, 
as  we  may  well  suppose,  or  by  infernal  help.  It  was 
enough  that  Moses  should  set  his  claims  upon  a  level 
with  those  which  Pharaoh  reverenced  :  the  king  was 
then  bound  to  weigh  their  relative  merits  in  other 
and  wholly  different  scales. 

THE  PLAGUES. 
vii.  14. 

There  are  many  aspects  in  which  the  plagues  of 
Egypt  may  be  contemplated. 

We  may  think  of  them  as  ranging  through  all 
nature,  and  asserting  the  mastery  of  the  Lord  alike 
over  the  river  on  which  depended  the  prosperity  of 
the  realm,  over  the  minute  pests  which  can  make  life 
more  wretched  than  larger  and  more  conspicuous  ills 
(the  frogs  of  the  water,  the  reptiles  that  disgrace 
humanity,  and  the  insects  that  infest  the  air),  over  the 
bodies  of  animals  stricken  with  murrain,  and  those 
of  man  tortured  with  boils,  over  hail  in  the  cloud 
and  blight  in  the  crop,  over  the  breeze  that  bears  the 
locust  and  the  sun  that  grows  dark  at  noon,  and  at 
last  over  the  secret  springs  of  human  life  itself. 


122 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


No  pantheistic  creed  (and  the  Egyptian  religion 
struck  its  roots  deep  into  pantheistic  speculation)  could 
thus  completely  exalt  God  above  nature,  as  a  superior 
and  controlling  Power,  not  one  with  the  mighty  wheels 
of  the  universe,  of  which  the  height  is  terrible,  but,  as 
Ezekiel  saw  Him,  enthroned  above  them  in  the  like¬ 
ness  of  fire,  and  yet  in  the  likeness  of  humanity. 

No  idolatrous  creed,  however  powerful  be  its  con¬ 
ception  of  one  god  of  the  hills  and  another  of  the 
valleys,  could  thus  represent  a  single  deity  as  wielding 
all  the  arrows  of  adverse  fortune,  able  to  assail  us 
from  earth  and  sky  and  water,  formidable  alike  in  the 
least  things  and  in  the  greatest.  And  presently  the 
demonstration  is  completed,  when  at  His  bidding  the 
tempest  heaps  up  the  sea,  and  at  His  frown  the  waters 
return  to  their  strength  again. 

And  no  philosophic  theory  condescends  to  bring  the 
Ideal,  the  Absolute,  and  the  Unconditioned,  into  such 
close  and  intimate  connection  with  the  frog-spawn  of 
the  ditch  and  the  blain  upon  the  tortured  skin. 

We  may,  with  ample  warrant  from  Scripture,  make 
the  controversial  application  still  more  simple  and 
direct,  and  think  of  the  plagues  as  wreaking  vengeance, 
for  the  worship  they  had  usurped  and  the  cruelties 
they  had  sanctioned,  upon  all  the  gods  of  Egypt,  which 
are  conceived  of  for  the  moment  as  realities,  and  as 
humbled,  if  not  in  fact,  yet  in  the  sympathies  of  priest 
and  worshipper  (xii.  1 2). 

Then  we  shall  see  the  domain  of  each  impostor 
invaded,  and  every  vaunted  power  to  inflict  evil  or  to 
remove  it  triumphantly  wielded  by  Him  Who  proves 
His  equal  mastery  over  all,  and  thus  we  shall  find  here 
the  justification  of  that  still  bolder  personification  which 
says,  “  Worship  Him,  all  ye  gods  ”  (Psalm  xcvii.  7). 


vii,  14.] 


THE  PLAGUES . 


123 


The  Nile  had  a  sacred  name,  and  was  adored  as 
11  Hapee,  or  Hapee  Mu,  the  Abyss,  or  the  Abyss  of 
Waters,  or  the  Hidden,”  and  the  king  was  frequently 
nortrayed  standing  between  two  images  of  this  god, 
his  throne  wreathed  with  water-lilies.  The  second 
plague  struck  at  the  goddess  Hekt,  whose  head  was 
that  of  a  frog.  The  uncleanness  of  the  third  plague 
deranged  the  whole  system  of  Egyptian  worship,  with 
its  punctilious  and  elaborate  purifications.  In  every 
one  there  is  either  a  presiding  divinity  attacked,  or  a 
blow  dealt  upon  the  priesthood  or  the  sacrifice,  or  a 
sphere  invaded  which  some  deity  should  have  pro¬ 
tected,  until  the  sun  himself  is  darkened,  the  great  god 
Ra,  to  whom  their  sacred  city  was  dedicated,  and  whose 
name  is  incorporated  in  the  title  of  his  earthly  repre¬ 
sentative,  the  Pharaoh  or  Ph-ra.  Then  at  last,  after 
all  these  premonitions,  the  deadly  blow  struck  home. 

Or  we  may  think  of  the  plagues  as  retributive,  and 
then  we  shall  discover  a  wonderful  suitability  in  them 
all.  It  was  a  direful  omen  that  the  first  should  afflict 
the  nation  through  the  river,  into  which,  eighty  years 
before,  the  Hebrew  babes  had  been  cast  to  die,  which 
now  rolled  bloody,  and  seemed  to  disclose  its  dead. 
It  was  fit  that  the  luxurious  homes  of  the  oppressors 
should  become  squalid  as  the  huts  of  the  slaves  they 
trampled  ;  that  their  flesh  should  suffer  torture  worse 
than  that  of  the  whips  they  used  so  unmercifully ;  that 
the  loss  of  crops  and  cattle  should  bring  home  to  them 
the  hardships  of  the  poor  who  toiled  for  their  magnifi¬ 
cence  ;  that  physical  darkness  should  appal  them  with 
vague  terrors  and  undefined  apprehensions,  such  as 
ever  haunt  the  bosom  of  the  oppressed,  whose  life  is 
the  sport  of  a  caprice ;  and  at  last  that  the  aged  should 
learn  by  the  deathbed  of  the  prop  and  pride  of  their 


124 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


declining  feebleness,  and  the  younger  feel  beside  the 
cradle  of  the  first  blossom  and  fruit  of  love,  all  the 
agony  of  such  bereavement  as  they  had  wantonly 
inflicted  on  the  innocent. 

And  since  the  fear  of  disadvantage  in  war  had 
prompted  the  murder  of  the  Hebrew  children,  it  was 
right  that  the  retributive  blow  should  destroy  first 
their  children  and  then  their  men  of  war. 

When  we  come  to  examine  the  plagues  in  detail,  we 
discover  that  it  is  no  arbitrary  fancy  which  divides 
them  into  three  triplets,  leading  up  to  the  appalling 
tenth.  Thus  the  first,  fourth,  and  seventh,  each  of 
which  begins  a  triplet,  are  introduced  by  a  command  to 
Moses  to  warn  Pharaoh  “in  the  morning”  (vii.  15),  or 
“early  in  the  morning  ”  (viii.  20,  ix.  13).  The  third, 
sixth  and  ninth,  on  the  contrary,  are  inflicted  withon* 
any  warning  whatever.  The  story  of  the  third  plague 
closes  with  the  defeat  of  the  magicians,  the  sixth  with 
their  inability  to  stand  before  the  king,  and  the  ninth 
with  the  final  rupture,  when  Moses  declares,  “  Thou 
shalt  see  my  face  no  more  ”  (viii.  19,  ix.  11,  x.  29). 

The  first  three  are  plagues  of  loathsomeness — blood¬ 
stained  waters,  frogs  and  lice ;  the  next  three  bring 
actual  pain  and  loss  with  them — stinging  flies,  murrain 
which  afflicts  the  beasts,  and  boils  upon  all  the 
Egyptians  ;  and  the  third  triplet  are  “  nature-plagues  ’* 

- — hail,  locusts  and  darkness.  It  is  only  after  the  first 
three  plagues  that  the  immunity  of  Israel  is  mentioned ; 
and  after  the  next  three,  when  the  hail  is  threatened, 
instructions  are  first  given  by  which  those  Egyptians 
who  fear  Jehovah  may  also  obtain  protection.  Thus,  in 
orderly  and  solemn  procession,  marched  the  avengers 
of  God  upon  the  guilty  land. 

It  has  been  observed,  concerning  the  miracles  of 


vii,  14.] 


THE  PLAGUES. 


125 


Jesus,  that  not  one  of  them  was  creative,  and  that, 
whenever  it  was  possible,  He  wrought  by  the  use  of 
material  naturally  provided.  The  waterpots  should 
be  filled ;  the  five  barley-loaves  should  be  sought  out ; 
the  nets  should  be  let  down  for  a  draught ;  and  the 
blind  man  should  have  his  eyes  anointed,  and  go  wash 
in  the  Pool  of  Siloam. 

And  it  is  easily  seen  that  such  miracles  were  a  more 
natural  expression  of  His  errand,  which  was  to  repair 
and  purify  the  existing  system  of  things,  and  to  remove 
our  moral  disease  and  dearth,  than  any  exercise  of 
creative  power  would  have  been,  however  it  might 
have  dazzled  the  spectators. 

Now,  the  same  remark  applies  to  the  miracles  of 
Moses,  to  the  coming  of  God  in  judgment,  as  to  His 
revelation  of  Himself  in  grace ;  and  therefore  we  need 
not  be  surprised  to  hear  that  natural  phenomena  are 
not  unknown  which  offer  a  sort  of  dim  hint  or  fore¬ 
shadowing  of  the  terrible  ten  plagues.  Either  crypto- 
gamic  vegetation  or  the  earth  borne  down  from  upper 
Africa  is  still  seen  to  redden  the  river,  usually  dark, 
but  not  so  as  to  destroy  the  fish.  Frogs  and  vermin 
and  stinging  insects  are  the  pest  of  modern  travellers. 
Cattle  plagues  make  ravage  there,  and  hideous  diseases 
of  the  skin  are  still  as  common  as  when  the  Lord 
promised  to  reward  the  obedience  of  Israel  to  sanitary 
law  by  putting  upon  them  none  of  “  the  evil  diseases 
of  Egypt"  which  they  knew  (Deut.  vii.  15).*  The 
locust  is  still  dreaded.  But  some  of  the  other 
visitations  were  more  direful  because  not  only  their 


*  To  this  day,  amid  squalid  surroundings  for  which  nominal 
Christians  are  responsible,  the  immunity  of  the  Jewish  race  from  such 
suffering  is  conspicuous,  and  at  least  a  remarkable  coincidence. 


126 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


intensity  but  even  their  existence  was  almost  unpre¬ 
cedented  :  hail  in  Egypt  was  only  not  quite  unknown ; 
and  such  veiling  of  the  sun  as  occurs  for  a  few 
minutes  during  the  storms  of  sand  in  the  desert 
ought  scarcely  to  be  quoted  as  even  a  suggestion 
of  the  prolonged  horror  of  the  ninth  plague. 

Now,  this  accords  exactly  with  the  moral  effect  which 
was  to  be  produced.  The  rescued  people  were  not  to 
think  of  God  as  one  who  strikes  down  into  nature  from 
outside,  with  strange  and  unwonted  powers,  superseding 
utterly  its  familiar  forces.  They  were  to  think  of  Him 
as  the  Author  of  all ;  and  of  the  common  troubles  of 
mortality  as  being  indeed  the  effects  of  sin,  yet  ever 
controlled  and  governed  by  Him,  let  loose  at  His  will, 
and  capable  of  mounting  to  unimagined  heights  if  His 
restraints  be  removed  from  them.  By  the  east  wind 
He  brought  the  locusts,  and  removed  them  by  the 
south-west  wind.  By  a  storm  He  divided  the  sea. 
The  common  things  of  life  are  in  His  hands,  often  for 
tremendous  results.  And  this  is  one  of  the  chief 
lessons  of  the  narrative  for  us.  Let  the  mind  range 
over  the  list  of  the  nine  which  stop  short  of  absolute 
destruction,  and  reflect  upon  the  vital  importance  of 
immunities  for  which  we  are  scarcely  grateful. 

The  purity  of  water  is  now  felt  to  be  among  the 
foremost  necessities  of  life.  It  is  one  which  asks 
nothing  from  us  except  to  refrain  from  polluting  what 
comes  from  heaven  so  limpid.  And  yet  we  are  half 
satisfied  to  go  on  habitually  inflicting  on  ourselves  a 
plague  more  foul  and  noxious  than  any  occasional 
turning  of  our  rivers  into  blood.  The  two  plagues 
which  dealt  with  minute  forms  of  life  may  well  remind 
us  of  the  vast  part  which  we  are  now  aware  that  the 
smallest  organisms  play  in  the  economy  of  life,  as  the 


vii.  14.] 


THE  PLAGUES. 


127 


agents  of  the  Creator.  Who  gives  thanks  aright  for 
the  cheap  blessing  of  the  unstained  light  of  heaven  ? 

But  we  are  insensible  to  the  every-day  teaching  of 
this  narrative :  we  turn  our  rivers  into  fluid  poison  ; 
we  spread  all  around  us  deleterious  influences,  which 
breed  by  minute  forms  of  parasitical  life  the  germs 
of  cruel  disease;  we  load  the  atmosphere  with  fumes 
which  slay  our  cattle  with  periodical  distempers,  and 
are  deadlier  to  vegetation  than  the  hailstorm  or  the 
locust ;  we  charge  it  with  carbon  so  dense  that 
multitudes  have  forgotten  that  the  sky  is  blue,  and  on 
our  Metropolis  comes  down  at  frequent  intervals  the 
darkness  of  the  ninth  plague,  and  all  the  time  we  fail 
to  see  that  God,  Who  enacts  and  enforces  every  law  of 
nature,  does  really  plague  us  whenever  these  outraged 
laws  avenge  themselves.  The  miraculous  use  of  nature 
in  special  emergencies  is  such  as  to  show  the  Hand 
which  regularly  wields  its  powers. 

At  the  same  time  there  is  no  more  excuse  for  the 
rationalism  which  would  reduce  the  calamities  of  Egypt 
to  a  coincidence,  than  for  explaining  away  the  manna 
which  fed  a  nation  during  its  wanderings  by  the  drug 
which  is  gathered,  in  scanty  morsels,  upon  the  acacia 
tree.  The  awful  severity  of  the  judgments,  the  series 
which  they  formed,  their  advent  and  removal  at  the 
menace  and  the  prayer  of  Moses,  are  considerations 
which  make  such  a  theory  absurd.  The  older  scepti¬ 
cism,  which  supposed  Moses  to  have  taken  advantage  of 
some  epidemic,  to  have  learned  in  the  wilderness  the 
fords  of  the  Red  Sea,*  to  have  discovered  water,  when 

*  But  indeed  this  notion  is  not  yet  dead.  “A  high  wind  left  the 
shallow  sea  so  lew  that  it  became  possible  to  ford  it.  Moses  eagerly 
accepted  the  suggcst;on,  and  made  the  venture  with  success,”  etc. — 
Wellhause "Israel,”  in  Encyc.  Brit. 


123 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


the  caravan  was  perishing  of  thirst,  by  his  knowledge 
of  the  habits  of  wild  beasts,  and  finally  to  have  dazzled 
the  nation  at  Horeb  with  some  kind  of  fireworks,  is 
itself  almost  a  miracle  in  its  violation  of  the  laws 
of  mind.  The  concurrence  of  countless  favourable 
accidents  and  strange  resources  of  leadership  is  like 
the  chance  arrangement  of  a  printer’s  type  to  make 
a  poem. 

There  is  a  common  notion  that  the  ten  plagues 
followed  each  other  with  breathless  speed,  and  were 
completed  within  a  few  weeks.  But  nothing  in  the 
narrative  asserts  or  even  hints  this,  and  what  we  do 
know  is  in  the  opposite  direction.  The  seventh  plague 
was  wrought  in  February,  for  the  barley  was  in  the 
ear  and  the  flax  in  blossom  (ix.  31);  and  the  feast  of 
passover  was  kept  on  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  month 
Abib,  so  that  the  destruction  of  the  firstborn  was  in 
the  middle  of  April,  and  there  was  an  interval  of  about 
two  months  between  the  last  four  plagues.  Now,  the 
same  interval  throughout  would  bring  back  the  first 
plague  to  September  or  October.  But  the  natural 
discoloration  of  the  river,  mentioned  above,  is  in  the 
middle  of  the  year,  when  the  river  begins  to  rise ;  and 
this,  it  may  possibly  be  inferred,  is  the  natural  period  at 
which  to  fix  the  first  plague.  They  would  then  range 
over  a  period  of  about  nine  months.  During  the  inter¬ 
val  between  them,  the  promises  and  treacheries  of  the 
king  excited  alternate  hope  and  rage  in  Israel ;  the 
scribes  of  their  own  race  (once  the  vassals  of  their 
tyrants,  but  already  estranged  by  their  own  oppression) 
began  to  take  rank  as  officers  among  the  Jews,  and  to 
exhibit  the  rudimentary  promise  of  national  order  and 
government ;  and  the  growing  fears  of  their  enemies 
fostered  that  triumphant  sense  of  mastery,  out  of  which 


vii.  14-25-] 


THE  FIRST  PLAGUE. 


129 


national  hope  and  pride  are  born.  When  the  time 
came  for  their  departure,  it  was  possible  to  transmit 
orders  throughout  all  their  tribes,  and  they  came  out  of 
Egypt  by  their  armies,  which  would  have  been  utterly 
impossible  a  few  months  before.  It  was  with  them,  as 
it  is  with  every  man  that  breathes  :  the  delay  of  God’s 
grace  was  itself  a  grace ;  and  the  slowly  ripening  fruit 
grew  mellower  than  if  it  had  been  forced  into  a 
speedier  maturity. 

THE  FIRST  PLAGUE. 
vii.  14-25. 

It  was  perhaps  when  the  Nile  was  rising,  and 
Pharaoh  wTas  coming  to  the  bank,  in  pomp  of  state,  to 
make  official  observation  of  its  progress,  on  which  the 
welfare  of  the  kingdom  depended,  and  to  do  homage 
before  its  divinity,  that  the  messenger  of  another 
Deity  confronted  him,  with  a  formal  declaration  of 
w-ar.  It  wrns  a  strange  contrast.  The  wicked  was  in 
great  prosperity,  neither  was  he  plagued  like  another 
man.  Upon  his  head,  if  this  were  Menephtah,  was  the 
golden  symbol  of  his  own  divinity.  Around  him  wTas 
an  obsequious  court.  And  yet  there  was  moving  in  his 
heart  some  unconfessed  sense  of  awe,  when  confronted 
once  more  by  the  aged  shepherd  and  his  brother, 
who  had  claimed  a  commission  from  above,  and  had 
certainly  met  his  challenge,  and  made  a  short  end  of 
the  rival  snakes  of  his  own  seers.  Once  he  had  asked 
“  Who  is  Jehovah?”  and  had  sent  His  ambassadors 
to  their  tasks  again  with  insult.  But  now  he  needs  to 
harden  his  heart,  in  order  not  to  yield  to  their  strange 
and  persistent  demands.  He  remembers  how  they  had 
spoken  to  him  already,  u  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Israel  is 

9 


*30 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


My  son,  My  firstborn,  and  I  have  said  unto  thee,  Let 
My  son  go  that  he  may  serve  Me ;  and  thou  hast 
refused  to  let  him  go  :  behold,  1  will  slay  thy  son,  thy 
firstborn”  (iv.  22,  R.V.).  Did  this  awful  warning  come 
back  to  him,  when  the  worn,  solemn  and  inflexible 
face  of  Moses  again  met  him  ?  Did  he  divine  the 
connection  between  this  ultimate  penalty  and  wThat  is 
now  announced — the  turning  of  the  pride  and  refresh¬ 
ment  of  Egypt  into  blood  ?  Or  was  it  partly  because 
each  plague,  however  dire,  seemed  to  fall  short  of  the 
tremendous  threat,  that  he  hoped  to  find  the  power  of 
Moses  more  limited  than  his  warnings  ?  u  Because 
sentence  against  an  evil  work  is  not  executed  speedily, 
therefore  the  heart  of  the  sons  of  men  is  fully  set  in 
them  to  do  evil.” 

And  might  he,  at  the  last,  be  hardened  to  pursue  the 
people  because,  by  their  own  showing,  the  keenest  arrow 
in  their  quiver  was  now  sped  ?  Whatever  his  feelings 
were,  it  is  certain  that  the  brothers  come  and  go,  and 
inflict  their  plagues  unrestrained  ;  that  no  insult  or 
violence  is  attempted,  and  we  can  see  the  truth  of  the 
words  11 1  have  made  thee  as  a  god  unto  Pharaoh.” 

It  is  in  clear  allusion  to  his  vaunt,  “  I  know  not 
Jehovah,”  that  Moses  and  A.aron  now  repeat  the 
demand  for  release,  and  say,  il  Hitherto  thou  hast  not 
hearkened  :  behold,  in  this  thou  shalt  know  that  I  am 
Jehovah.”  What  follows,  when  attentively  read,  makes 
it  plain  that  the  blow  falls  upon  “  the  waters  that  are 
in  the  river,”  and  those  that  have  been  drawn  from  it 
into  canals  for  artificial  irrigation,  into  reservoirs  like 
the  lakes  Moeris  and  Mareotis,  and  even  into  vessels 
for  immediate  use. 

But  we  are  expressly  told  that  it  was  possible  to 
obtain  water  by  digging  wells.  Therefore  there  is  no 


vii.  14-25.]  THE  FIRST  PLAGUE.  13 1 

point  whatever  in  the  cavil  that  if  Moses  turned  all 
the  water  into  blood,  none  was  left  for  the  operations 
of  the  magicians.  But  no  comparison  whatever  existed 
between  their  petty  performances  and  the  immense  and 
direful  work  of  vengeance  which  rolled  down  a  putrid 
mass  of  corrupt  waters  through  the  land,  spoiling  the 
great  stores  of  water  by  which  later  drought  should 
be  relieved,  destroying  the  fish,  that  important  part  of 
the  food  of  the  nation,  for  which  Israel  afterwards 
lusted,  and  sowing  the  seeds  of  other  plagues,  by  the 
pollution  of  that  balmy  air  in  which  so  many  of  our 
own  suffering  countrymen  still  find  relief,  but  which 
was  now  infected  and  loathsome.  Even  Pharaoh  must 
have  felt  that  his  gods  might  do  better  for  him  than 
this,  and  that  it  would  be  much  more  to  the  point  just 
then  to  undo  his  plague  than  to  increase  it — to  turn 
back  the  blood  to  water  than  contribute  a  few  drops 
more.  If  this  was  their  best  effort,  he  was  alreadv 
helpless  in  the  hand  of  his  assailant,  who,  by  the  up¬ 
lifting  of  his  rod,  and  the  bold  avowal  in  advance  of 
responsibility  for  so  great  a  calamity,  had  formally  defied 
him.  But  Pharaoh  dared  not  accept  the  challenge  :  it 
was  effort  enough  for  him  to  “set  his  heart”  against 
surrender  to  the  portent,  and  he  sullenly  turned  back 
into  the  palace  from  the  spot  where  Moses  met  him. 

Two  details  remain  to  be  observed.  The  seven 
days  which  were  fulfilled  do  not  measure  the  interval 
between  this  plague  and  the  next,  but  the  period  of  its 
infliction.  And  this  information  is  not  given  us  con¬ 
cerning  any  other,  until  we  come  to  the  three  days 
of  darkness.*  It  is  important  here,  because  the  natural 

*  x.  22.  The  accurate  Kalisch  is  therefore  wrong  in  speaking  of 
“The  duration  of  the  first  plague,  a  statement  not  made  with  regatd 
to  any  of  the  subsequent  inflictions,” — Commentary  in  loco. 


132 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


discoloration  lasts  for  three  weeks,  and  mythical  ten¬ 
dencies  would  rather  exaggerate  than  shorten  the  term 

Again,  it  is  contended  that  only  with  the  fourth 
plague  did  Israel  begin  to  enjoy  exemption,  because 
then  only  is  their  immunity  recorded.*  But  it  is 
strange  indeed  to  suppose  that  they  were  involved  in 
punishments  the  design  of  which  was  their  relief ;  and 
in  fact  their  exemption  is  implied  in  the  statement 
that  the  Egyptians  (only)  had  to  dig  wells.  It  is  to  be 
understood  that  large  stores  of  water  would  everywhere 
be  laid  up,  because  the  Nile  water,  however  delicious, 
carries  much  sediment  which  must  be  allowed  to  settle 
down.  They  would  not  be  forced,  therefore,  to  fall 
back  upon  the  polluted  common  sources  for  a  supply. 

And  now  let  us  contrast  this  miracle  with  the  first 
of  the  New  Testament.  One  spoiled  the  happiness  of 
the  guilty ;  the  other  rescued  the  overclouded  joy  of 
the  friends  of  Jesus,  not  turning  water  into  blood  but 
into  wine;  declaring  at  one  stroke  all  the  difference 
between  the  law  which  worketh  wrath,  and  the  gospel 
of  the  grace  of  God.  The  first  was  impressive  and 
public,  as  the  revelation  upon  Sinai ;  the  other  appealed 
far  more  to  the  heart  than  to  the  imagination,  and 
befitted  well  the  kingdom  that  was  not  with  observa¬ 
tion,  the  King  who  grew  up  like  a  tender  plant,  and 
did  not  strive  nor  cry,  the  redeeming  influence  which 
was  at  first  unobtrusive  as  the  least  of  all  seeds,  but 
became  a  tree,  and  the  shelter  of  the  fowls  of  heaven. 


*  Speaker’s  Commentary ,  i.,  p.  242;  Kalisch  on  viii.  18;  Kiel,  i.  484. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


THE  SECOND  PLAGUE, 
viii.  1-15. 

ALTHOUGH  Pharaoh  had  warning  of  the  first 
plague,  no  appeal  was  made  to  him  to  avert  it  by 
submission.  But  before  the  plague  of  frogs  he  was 
distinctly  commanded,  “  Let  My  people  go.”  It  is  an 
advancing  lesson.  He  has  felt  the  power  of  Jehovah  : 
now  he  is  to  connect,  even  more  closely,  his  suffering 
with  his  disobedience ;  and  when  this  is  accomplished, 
the  third  plague  will  break  upon  him  unannounced — a 
loud  challenge  to  his  conscience  to  become  itself  his 
judge. 

The  plague  of  frogs  was  far  greater  than  our  experi¬ 
ence  helps  us  to  imagine.  At  least  two  cases  are  on 
record  of  a  people  being  driven  to  abandon  their  settle¬ 
ments  because  they  had  become  intolerable  ;  li  as  even 
the  vessels  were  full  of  them,  the  water  infested  and 
the  food  uneatable,  as  they  could  scarcely  set  their  feet 
on  the  ground  without  treading  on  heaps  of  them,  and 
as  they  were  vexed  by  the  smell  of  the  great  multitude 
that  died,  they  fled  from  that  region.” 

The  Egyptian  species  known  to  science  as  the  Rana 
Mosaica,  and  still  called  by  the  uncommon  epithet  here 
employed,  is  peculiarly  repulsive,  and  peculiarly  noisy 
too.  The  superstition  which  adored  a  frog  as  the 


x34 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


“  Queen  of  the  two  Worlds/’  and  placed  it  upon  the 
sacred  lotus-leaf,  would  make  it  impossible  for  an 
Egyptian  to  adopt  even  such  forlorn  measures  of  self- 
defence  as  might  suggest  themselves.  It  was  an  un¬ 
clean  pest  against  which  he  was  entirely  helpless,  and 
it  extended  the  power  of  his  enemy  from  the  river  to 
the  land.  The  range  of  the  grievance  is  dwelt  upon 
in  the  warning :  “  they  shall  come  up  and  enter  into 
thine  house,  and  into  thy  bedchamber,  and  upon  thy 
bed  .  .  .  and  into  thine  ovens,  and  into  thy  kneading- 
troughs  (viii.  3).  The  most  sequestered  and  the  dryest 
spots  alike  would  swarm  with  them,  thrust  forward 
into  the  most  unsuitable  places  by  the  multitude 
behind. 

Thus  Pharaoh  himself  had  to  share,  far  more  than  in 
the  first  plague,  the  misery  of  his  humblest  subjects  ; 
and,  although  again  his  magicians  imitated  Aaron  upon 
some  small  prepared  plot,  and  amid  circumstances 
which  made  it  easier  to  exhibit  frogs  than  to  exclude 
them,  yet  there  was  no  comfort  in  such  puerile  emula¬ 
tion,  and  they  offered  no  hope  of  relieving  him.  From 
the  gods  that  were  only  vanities,  he  turned  to  Jehovah, 
and  abased  himself  to  ask  the  intercession  of  Moses  : 
“  Intreat  Jehovah  that  He  takeaway  the  frogs  from  me 
and  from  my  people ;  and  I  will  let  the  people  go.” 

The  assurance  would  have  been  a  hopeful  one,  if 
only  the  sense  of  inconvenience  were  the  same  as  the 
sense  of  sin.  But  when  we  wonder  at  the  relapses  of 
men  who  were  penitent  upon  sick-beds  or  in  adversity, 
as  soon  as  their  trouble  is  at  an  end,  we  are  blind  to 
this  distinction.  Pain  is  sometimes  obviously  due  to 
ourselves,  and  it  is  natural  to  blame  the  conduct  which 
led  to  it.  But  if  we  blame  it  only  for  being  disastrous, 
we  cannot  hope  that  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit  will  result 


viii.  1-15.] 


THE  SECOND  PLAGUE. 


135 


from  a  sensation  of  the  flesh.  It  was  so  with  Pharaoh, 
as  doubtless  Moses  expected,  since  God  had  not  yet 
exhausted  His  predicted  works  of  retribution.  This 
anticipated  fraud  is  much  the  simplest  explanation  of 
the  difficult  phrase/'  Have  thou  this  glory  over  me.” 

It  is  sometimes  explained  as  an  expression  of 
courtesy — “  I  obey  thee  as  a  superior  ”  ;  which  does  not 
occur  elsewhere,  because  it  is  not  Hebrew  but  Egyptian. 
But  this  suavity  is  quite  alien  to  the  spirit  of  the 
narrative,  in  which  Moses,  however  courteous,  repre¬ 
sents  an  offended  God.  It  is  more  natural  to  take  it 
as  an  open  declaration  that  he  was  being  imposed 
upon,  yet  would  grant  to  the  king  whatever  advantage 
the  fraud  implied.  And  to  make  the  coming  relief 
more  clearly  the  action  of  the  Lord,  to  shut  out  every 
possibility  that  magician  or  priest  should  claim  the 
honour,  he  bade  the  king  name  an  hour  at  which  the 
plague  should  cease. 

If  the  frogs  passed  away  at  once,  the  relief  might 
chance  to  be  a  natural  one  ;  and  Pharaoh  doubtless  con¬ 
ceived  that  elaborate  and  long  protracted  intercessions 
were  necessary  for  his  deliverance.  Accordingly  he 
fixed  a  future  period,  yet  as  near  as  he  perhaps  thought 
possible;  and  Moses,  without  any  express  authority, 
promised  him  that  it  should  be  so.  Therefore  he  “  cried 
unto  the  Lord,”  and  the  frogs  did  not  retreat  into  the 
river,  but  suddenly  died  where  they  were,  and  filled  the 
unhappy  land  with  a  new  horror  in  their  decay. 

But  “  when  Pharaoh  saw  that  there  was  respite,  he 
made  his  heart  heavy  and  hearkened  not  unto  them.” 
It  is  a  graphic  sentence :  it  implies  rather  than  affirms 
their  indignant  remonstrances,  and  the  sullen,  dull, 
spiritless  obstinacy  with  which  he  held  his  base  and 
unkingly  purpose. 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


136 


THE  THIRD  PLAGUE . 
viii.  16  19. 

There  is  no  sufficient  reason  for  discarding  the 
ordinary  opinion  of  this  plague.  Gnats  have  been  sug¬ 
gested  (with  beetles  instead  of  flies  for  the  fourth,  since 
gnats  and  flies  would  scarcely  make  two  several  judg¬ 
ments),  but  these,  which  spring  from  marshy  ground, 
would  unfitly  be  connected  with  the  dust  whence  Aaron 
was  to  evoke  the  pest.  Sir  Samuel  Baker,  on  the 
other  hand,  has  said  of  modern  Egypt  that  “  it  seemed 
as  if  the  very  dust  were  turned  into  lice  ”  (quoted  in 
Speaker’s  Commentary  in  loco). 

Two  features  in  this  plague  deserve  attention.  It 
came  without  any  warning  whatever.  The  faithless 
king  who  gave  his  word  and  broke  it  found  himsell 
involved  in  fresh  miseries  without  an  opportunity  of 
humbling  himself  again.  He  was  flung  back  into  deep 
waters,  because  he  refused  to  fulfil  the  terms  upon 
which  he  had  been  extricated. 

It  must  be  understood  that  the  act  of  Aaron  was 
a  public  one,  performed  in  the  sight  of  Pharaoh,  and 
instantly  followed  by  the  plague.  There  was  no  doubt 
about  the  origin  of  the  pest,  and  the  new  and  alarming 
prospect  was  opened  up  of  calamities  yet  to  come, 
without  a  chance  to  avert  them  by  submission. 

Again,  it  will  be  observed  that  the  magicians  are 
utterly  baffled  just  when  there  is  no  warning  given, 
and  therefore  no  opportunity  for  pre-arranged  sleight 
of  hand.  And  this  surely  favours  the  opinion  that 
they  had  not  hitherto  succeeded  by  supernatural  assist¬ 
ance,  for  there  is  no  such  evident  reason  why  infernal 
aid  should  cease  at  this  exact  point. 


viii.  20-32.] 


THE  FOURTH  PLAGUE. 


137 


It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  thereupon  they  con¬ 
fessed  the  mission  of  the  brothers.  In  their  agitation 
they  admitted  that,  on  their  part  at  least,  no  divinity 
had  been  at  work  before.  But  they  rather  ascribed 
what  they  saw  to  the  action  of  some  vaguely  indicated 
deity,  than  confessed  it  to  be  the  work  of  Jehovah. 
Again  it  has  to  be  asked  whether  this  resembles  more 
the  vainglorious  structure  of  a  myth,  or  the  course  of 
a  truthful  history. 

Nevertheless,  their  grudging  and  insufficient  avowal 
was  meant  to  induce  a  surrender.  But  “  Pharaoh's 
heart  was  strong,  and  he  hearkened  not  unto  them.” 
To  this  statement  it  is  not  added,  “  because  the  Lord 
had  hardened  him,”  for  this  had  not  even  yet  taken 
place ;  but  only,  il  as  the  Lord  had  spoken.” 

THE  FOURTH  PLAGUE, 
viii.  20-32. 

When  the  third  plague  had  died  away,  when  the 
sense  of  reaction  and  exhaustion  had  replaced  agitation 
and  distress,  and  when  perhaps  the  fear  grew  strong 
that  at  any  moment  a  new  calamity  might  befal  the 
land  as  abruptly  as  the  last,  God  orders  a  solemn  and 
urgent  appeal  to  be  made  to  the  oppressor,  f  And  the 
same  occurs  three  times  :  after  each  plague  which 
arrives  unexpectedly  the  next  is  introduced  by  a 
special  warning.  \  On  each  of  these  occasions,  more¬ 
over,  the  appeal  is  made  in  the  morning,  at  the  hour 
when  reason  ought  to  be  clearest  and  the  passions 
least  agitating;  and  this  circumstance  is  perhaps 
alluded  to  in  the  favourite  phrase  of  Jeremiah  when 
he  would  speak  of  condescending  earnestness — “  I 
sent  my  prophets,  rising  up  early  and  sending  them” 


138 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


(jer.  xxv.  4,  xxvi.  5,  xxix.  19,  and  many  more  ;  cf.  also 
vii.  13,  and  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  15).  So  far  is  the  Scripture 
from  regarding  Pharaoh  as  propelled  by  destiny,  as  by 
a  machine,  down  iron  grooves  to  ruin. 

We  have  now  come  to  the  group  of  plagues  which 
inflict  actual  bodily  damage,  and  not  inconvenience  and 
humiliation  only  :  the  dogfly  (or  beetle)  ;  the  murrain 
among  beasts,  which  was  a  precursor  of  the  crowning 
evil  that  struck  at  human  life;  and  the  boils.  Of  the 
fourth  plague  the  precise  nature  is  uncertain.  There 
is  a  beetle  which  gnaws  both  man  and  beast,  destroys 
clothes,  furniture,  and  plants,  and  even  now  they  “are 
often  seen  in  millions”  (Munk,  Palestine ,  p.  1 20). 
“  In  a  few  minutes  they  filled  the  whole  house.  .  .  . 
Only  after  the  most  laborious  exertions,  and  covering 
the  floor  of  the  house  with  hot  coals,  they  succeeded 
in  mastering  them.  If  they  make  such  attacks  during 
the  night,  the  inmates  are  compelled  to  give  up  the 
houses,  and  little  children  or  sick  persons,  who  are 
unable  to  rise  alone,  are  then  exposed  to  the  greatest 
danger  of  life”  (Pratte,  Abyssinia ,  p.  143,  in  Kalisch). 

Now,  this  explanation  has  one  advantage  over  that  of 
clogflies — that  special  mention  is  made  of  their  afflicting 
lt  the  ground  whereon  they  are”  (ver.  21),  which  is  less 
suitable  to  a  plague  of  flies.  But  it  may  be  that  no 
one  creature  is  meant.  The  Plebrew  word  means  “  a 
mixture.”  Jewish  interpreters  have  gone  so  far  as  to 
make  it  mean  “  all  kinds  of  noxious  animals  and  ser¬ 
pents  and  scorpions  mixed  together,”  and  although  it  is 
palpably  absurd  to  believe  that  Pharaoh  should  have 
survived  if  these  had  been  upon  him  and  upon  his 
servants,  yet  the  expression  “a  mixture,”  following 
after  one  kind  of  vermin  had  tormented  the  land,  need 
not  be  narrowed  too  exactly.  With  deliberate  parti- 


viii.  20-32.] 


THE  FOURTH  PLAGUE. 


139 


cularity  the  king  was  warned  that  they  should  come 
“upon  thee,  and  upon  thy  servants,  and  upon  thy 
people,  and  into  thine  houses,  and  the  houses  of  the 
Egyptians  shall  be  full  of  [them  *],  and  also  the  ground 
whereon  they  are.” 

It  has  been  supposed,  from  the  special  mention  of 
the  exemption  of  the  land  of  Goshen,  that  this  was  a 
new  thing.  We  have  seen  reason,  however,  to  think 
otherwise,  and  the  emphatic  assertion  now  made  is 
easy  to  understand.  The  plague  was  especially  to 
be  expected  in  low  fat  ground :  the  king  may  not 
even  have  been  aware  of  the  previous  freedom  of 
Israel ;  and  in  any  case  its  importance  as  an  evidence 
had  not  been  pressed  upon  him.  The  spirit  of  the 
seventy-eighth  Psalm,  though  not  perhaps  any  one 
specific  phrase,  contrasts  the  earlier  as  well  as  the 
later  plagues  with  the  protection  of  His  own  people, 
whom  He  led  like  sheep  (vers.  42-52). 

After  the  appointed  interval  (the  same  which  Pharaoh 
had  indicated  for  the  removal  of  the  frogs)  the  plague 
came.  We  are  told  that  the  land  was  corrupted,  but 
it  is  significant  that  more  stress  is  laid  upon  the  suffer¬ 
ing  of  Pharaoh  and  his  court  in  the  event  than  in  the 
menace.  It  came  home  to  himself  more  cruelly  than 
any  former  plague,  and  he  at  once  attempted  to  make 
terms:  “  Go  ye,  sacrifice  to  }mur  God  in  the  land.”  It 
is  a  natural  speech,  at  first  not  asking  to  be  trusted  as 
before  by  getting  relief  before  the  Hebrews  actually 
enjoy  their  liberty^ ;  and  yet  conceding  as  little  as 
possible,  and  in  hot  haste  to  have  that  little  done  and 


*  The  Revised  Version  has  “  swarms  of  flies,”  which  is  clearly  an 
attempt  to  meet  the  case.  But  it  is  worth  notice  that  in  the  Psalms 
the  expression  was  twice  rendered  “divers  kinds  of  flies”  (lxxviii.  45» 
ji  A.V.)  The  word  occurs  only  of  this  plague. 


140 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


the  relief  obtained.  They  may  even  serve  their  God 
on  the  sacred  soil,  so  completely  has  He  already 
defeated  all  His  rivals.  But  this  was  not  what  was 
demanded  ;  and  Moses  repeated  the  claim  of  a  three 
days'  journey,  basing  it  upon  the  ground,  still  more 
insulting  to  the  national  religion,  that  lt  We  will 
sacrifice  to  Jehovah  our  God  the  abomination  of  the 
Egyptians,"  that  is  to  say,  sacred  animals,  which  it 
is  horror  in  their  eyes  to  sacrifice.  Any  faith  in 
his  own  creed  which  Pharaoh  ever  had  is  surrendered 
when  this  argument,  instead  of  making  their  cause 
hopeless,  forces  him  to  yield — adding,  however,  like 
a  thoroughly  weak  man  who  wishes  to  refuse  but 
dares  not,  li  only  ye  shall  not  go  very  far  away : 
intreat  for  me."  And  again  Moses  concedes  the  point, 
with  only  the  courteous  remonstrance,  i(  But  let  not 
Pharaoh  deal  deceitfully  any  more." 

It  is  necessary  to  repeat  that  we  have  not  a  shred  of 
evidence  that  Moses  would  have  violated  his  compact 
and  failed  to  return :  it  would  have  sufficed  as  a  first 
step  to  have  asserted  the  nationality  of  his  people  and 
their  right  to  worship  their  own  God  :  all  the  rest  would 
speedily  have  followed.  But  the  terms  which  were 
rejected  again  and  again  did  not  continue  for  ever  to 
bind  the  victorious  party  :  the  story  of  their  actual 
departure  makes  it  plain  that  both  sides  understood  it 
to  be  a  final  exodus  ;  and  thence  came  the  murderous 
pursuit  of  Pharaoh  (cf.  xv.  9),  wThich  in  itself  wrould 
have  cancelled  any  compact  which  had  existed  until 
then. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


THE  FIFTH  PLAGUE, 
ix.  1-7. 

OUR  Lord  when  on  earth  came  not  to  destroy 
men’s  lives.  And  yet  it  was  necessary,  for  our 
highest  instruction,  that  we  should  not  think  of  Him 
as  revealing  a  Divinity  wholly  devoid  of  sternness. 
Twice,  therefore,  a  gleam  of  the  fires  of  justice  fell  on 
the  eyes  which  followed  Him — through  the  destruction 
once  of  a  barren  tree,  and  once  of  a  herd  of  swine, 
which  property  no  Jew  should  have  possessed.  So 
now,  when  half  the  gloomy  round  of  the  plagues  was 
being  completed,  it  was  necessary  to  prove  that  life 
itself  was  staked  on  this  desperate  hazard ;  and  this 
was  done  first  by  the  very  same  expedient — the  des¬ 
truction  of  life  which  was  not  human.  There  is 
something  pathetic,  if  one  thinks  of  it,  in  the  extent 
to  which  domestic  animals  share  our  fortunes,  and 
suffer  through  the  brutality  or  the  recklessness  of  their 
proprietors.  If  all  men  were  humane,  self-controlled, 
and  (as  a  natural  result)  prosperous,  what  a  weight 
would  be  uplifted  from  the  lower  levels  also  of  created 
life,  all  of  which  groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain 
together  until  now  !  The  dumb  animal  world  is 
partner  with  humanity,  and  shares  its  fate,  as  each 
animal  is  dependent  on  its  individual  owner. 


142 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


We  have  already  seen  the  whole  life  of  Egypt 
stricken,  but  now  the  lower  creatures  are  to  perish,  un¬ 
less  Pharaoh  will  repent.  He  is  once  more  summoned 
in  the  name  of  u  Jehovah,  God  of  the  Hebrews,”  and 
warned  that  the  hand  of  Jehovah,  even  a  very  grievous 
murrain  (for  so  the  verse  appears  to  say),  is  “  upon  thy 
cattle  which  is  in  the  field,  upon  the  horses,  upon  the 
asses,  upon  the  camels,  upon  the  herds  and  upon  the 
flocks.”  Here  some  particulars  need  observation. 
Herds  and  flocks  were  everywhere;  but  horses  were 
a  comparatively  late  introduction  into  Egypt,  where 
they  were  as  yet  chiefly  employed  for  war.  Asses,  still 
so  familiar  to  the  traveller,  were  the  usual  beasts  of 
burden,  and  were  owned  in  great  numbers  by  the  rich, 
although  rash  controversialists  have  pretended  that,  as 
being  unclean,  they  were  not  tolerated  in  the  land. 

Camels,  it  is  said,  are  not  to  be  found  on  the  monu¬ 
ments,  but  }^et  they  were  certainly  known  and  possessed 
by  Egypt,  though  there  were  many  reasons  why  they 
should  be  held  chiefly  on  the  frontiers,  and  perhaps 
in  connection  with  the  Arabian  mines  and  settlements. 
Upon  all  these  “in  the  field”  the  plague  should 
come. 

The  murrain  still  works  havoc  in  the  Delta,  chiefly 
at  the  period,  beginning  with  December,  when  the 
floods  are  down  and  the  cattle  are  turned  out  into 
the  pastures,  which  would  this  year  have  been 
signally  unwholesome.  It  was  not,  then,  the  fact  of  a 
cattle  plague  which  was  miraculous,  but  its  severity, 
its  coming  at  an  appointed  time,  its  assailing  beasts 
of  every  kind,  and  its  exempting  those  of  Israel. 
We  are  told  that  “all  the  cattle  of  Egypt  died,”  and 
yet  that  afterwards  “  the  hail  .  .  .  smote  both  man 
and  beast  ”  (ix.  6,  25).  It  is  an  inconsistency  very 


ix.  1-7.] 


THE  FIFTH  PLAGUE . 


*43 


serious  in  the  eyes  of  people  who  are  too  stupid  or  too 
un candid  to  observe  that,  just  before,  the  mischief  was 
limited  to  those  cattle  which  were  "in  the  field’' 
(ver.  3).  There  were  great  stalls  in  suitable  places, 
to  give  them  shelter  during  the  inundations;  and  all 
that  had  not  yet  been  driven  out  to  graze  are 
expressly  exempted  from  the  plague. 

Much  of  Pharaoh’s  own  property  perished,  but  he 
was  the  last  man  in  the  country  who  wouM  feel 
personal  inconvenience  by  the  loss,  and  therefore 
nothing  was  more  natural  than  that  his  selfish  “  heart 
wTas  heavy,  and  he  did  not  let  the  people  go.”  Not 
even  such  an  effort  was  needed  as  in  the  previous 
plague,  when  we  read  that  he  made  his  heart  heavy, 
by  a  deliberate  act. 

There  was  nothing  to  indicate  that  he  had  now 
reached  a  crisis — that  God  Himself  in  His  judgment 
would  henceforth  make  bold  and  resolute  against 
crushing  adversities  the  heart  which  had  been  obdurate 
against  humanity,  against  evidence,  against  honour 
and  plighted  faith.  Nothing  is  easier  than  to  step  over 
the  frontier  between  great  nations.  And  in  the  moral 
world  also  the  Rubicon  is  passed,  the  destiny  of  a 
soul  is  fixed,  sometimes  without  a  struggle,  unawares. 

Instead  of  spiritual  conflict,  there  was  intellectual 
curiosity.  “  Pharaoh  sent,  and  behold  there  was  not 
so  much  as  one  of  the  cattle  of  the  Israelites  dead. 
But  the  heart  of  Pharaoh  was  heavy,  and  he  did  not 
let  the  people  go.”  This  inquiry  into  a  phenomenon 
which  was  surprising  indeed,  but  yet  quite  unable  to 
affect  his  action,  recalls  the  spiritual  condition  of 
Herod,  who  was  conscience-stricken  when  first  he 
heard  of  Christ,  and  said,  u  It  is  John  whom  I  beheaded  " 
(Mark  vi.  16),  but  afterwards  felt  merely  vulgar 


144 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


curiosity  and  desire  to  behold  a  sign  of  Him.  In 
the  case  of  Pharaoh  it  was  the  next  step  to  judicial 
infatuation.  When  Christ  confronted  Herod,  He,  Who 
had  explained  Himself  to  Pilate,  was  absolutely  silent. 
And  this  warns  us  not  to  think  that  an  interest  in 
religious  problems  is  itself  of  necessity  religious.  One 
may  understand  all  mysteries,  and  yet  it  may  profit 
him  nothing.  And  many  a  reprobate  soul  is  contro¬ 
versial,  acute,  and  keenly  orthodox. 

THE  SIXTH  PLAGUE. 
ix.  8-12. 

At  the  close  of  the  second  triplet,  as  of  the  first, 
stands  a  plague  without  a  warning,  but  not  without 
the  clearest  connection  between  the  blow  and  Him  who 
deals  it. 

To  the  Jews  Egypt  was  a  furnace  in  which  they 
were  being  consumed — whether  literally  in  human 
sacrifice,  or  metaphorically  in  the  hard  labour  which 
wasted  them  (Deut.  iv.  20).  And  now  the  brothers  were 
commanded  to  fill  both  hands  wTith  ashes  of  the  furnace 
and  throw  them  upon  the  wind,*  either  to  symbolise 
the  suffering  which  was  to  be  spread  wide  over  the 
land,  or  because  the  ashes  of  human  sacrifices  were  thus 
presented  to  their  evil  genius,  Typhon.  If  this  were 
its  meaning,  the  irony  was  keen,  when  at  the  same 
action  a  feverish  inflammation  breaking  out  in  blains 
spread  over  all  the  nation. 

But,  apart  from  any  such  reference  to  their  cruel 
idolatry,  it  was  right  that  they  should  suffer  in  the 

*  The  passage  in  Deuteronomy  had  not  this  event  specially  in 
mind,  or  it  would  have  used  the  same  term  for  a  furnace.  The  word 
for  ashes  implies  what  can  be  blown  upon  the  wind. 


ix.  8-12.]  THE  SIXTH  PLAGUE.  145 

flesh.  When  the  higher  nature  is  dead,  there  is  no  ap¬ 
peal  so  sharp  and  certain  as  to  the  physical  sensibility. 
And  moreover,  there  are  other  sins  which  have  their 
root  in  the  flesh  besides  sloth  and  bodily  indulgence. 
Wrath  and  cruelty  and  pride  are  strangely  stimulated 
and  excited  by  self-indulgence.  Not  in  vain  does 
St.  Paul  describe  a  “mind  of  the  flesh,”  and  reckon 
among  the  fruits  of  the  flesh  not  only  uncleanness  and 
drunkenness,  but,  just  as  truly,  strife,  jealousies,  wraths, 
factions,  divisions,  heresies  (Col.  ii.  18;  Gal.  v.  19,  20). 
From  such  evil  tempers,  stimulated  by  evil  appetites, 
the  slaves  of  Egypt  had  suffered  bitterly  ;  and  now  the 
avenging  rod  fell  upon  the  bodies  of  their  tyrants. 

And  we  may  perhaps  detect  especial  suffering,  cer¬ 
tainly  an  especial  triumph  to  be  commemorated,  in 
the  failure  of  the  magicians  even  to  stand  before  the 
king.  It  is  implied  that  they  had  done  so  until  now, 
and  this  confirms  the  belief  that  after  the  third  plague 
they  had  not  acknowledged  Jehovah,  but  merely  said 
in  their  defeat,  “  This  is  the  finger  of  a  god.” 
Until  now  Jannes  and  Jambres  (two,  to  rival  the  two 
brothers)  had  withstood  Moses,  but  now  the  contrast 
between  the  prophet  and  his  victims  writhing  in  their 
pain  was  too  sharp  for  prejudice  itself  to  overlook : 
their  folly  was  11  evident  unto  all  men  ”  (2  Tim.  iii.  8,  9). 
But  it  was  not  destined  that  Pharaoh  should  yield  even 
to  so  tremendous  a  coercion  what  he  refused  to 
moral  influences;  and  as  Jesus  after  His  resurrection 
appeared  not  unto  all  the  people  (hiding  this  crowning 
evidence  from  the  eyes  which  had  in  vain  beheld  so 
much),  so  “  the  Lord  made  strong  the  heart  of  Pharaoh, 
and  he  hearkened  not  unto  them,  as  the  Lord  had 
spoken  unto  Moses.”  In  this  last  expression  is  the 
explicit  statement  that  it  w7as  now  that  the  prediction 

IO 


146 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


attained  fulfilment,  in  the  manner  which  we  have  dis¬ 
cussed  already. 

But  even  this  strength  of  heart  did  not  reach  the 
height  of  attempting  any  reprisals  upon  the  torturers. 
The  sense  of  the  supernatural  was  their  defence  : 
Moses  was  as  a  god  unto  Pharaoh,  and  Aaron  was 
his  prophet. 

In  the  narrative  of  this  plague  there  is  an  expression 
which  deserves  attention  for  another  reason.  The 
ashes,  it  says,  “  shall  become  dust.”  Is  there  no 
controversy,  turning  upon  the  too  rigid  and  prosaic 
straining  of  a  New  Testament  construction,  which 
might  be  simplified  by  considering  the  Hebrew  use 
of  language,  exemplified  in  such  an  assertion  as  “  It 
shall  become  dust,”  and  soon  after,  “  It  is  the  Lord’s 
passover”?  Do  these  announce  transubstantiations  ? 
Did  two  handfuls  of  ashes  literally  become  the  blains 
upon  the  bodies  of  all  the  Egyptians  ? 

THE  SEVENTH  PLAGUE. 
ix.  13-35- 

The  hardening  of  Pharaoh’s  heart,  we  have  argued, 
was  not  the  debauching  of  his  spirit,  but  only  the 
strengthening  of  his  will.  “Wait  on  the  Lord  and  be 
of  good  courage"  ;  “  Be  strong ,  O  Zerubbabel,  saith  the 
Lord;  and  be  strongf  O  Joshua,  son  of  Josadak  the  high 
priest;  and  be  strong ,  all  ye  people”  (Ps.  xxvii.  14; 
Hag.  ii.  4),  are  clear  proofs  that  what  was  implied 
in  this  word  was  not  wickedness,  but  only  that  iron 
determination  which  his  choice  directed  in  a  wicked 
channel.  And  therefore  it  was  no  mockery,  no  insincere 
appeal  by  one  who  had  provided  against  the  mischance 
of  its  succeeding,  when  God  again  addressed  Himself 


ix.  13-35] 


THE  SEVENTH  PLAGUE, 


147 


to  the  reason,  and  even  to  the  rational  fears  of  Pharaoh. 
He  had  only  provided  against  a  terror-stricken  submis¬ 
sion,  as  wholly  immoral  and  valueless,  as  the  ceasing  to 
resist  of  one  wrho  has  swooned  through  fright.  Now, 
to  give  such  an  one  a  stimulant  and  thus  to  enable 
him  to  exercise  his  volition,  would  be  different  from 
inciting  him  to  rebel. 

The  seventh  plague,  then,  is  ushered  in  by  an 
expostulation  more  earnest,  resolute  and  minatory  than 
attended  any  of  the  previous  ones.  And  this  is  the 
more  necessary  because  human  life  is  now  for  the  first 
time  at  stake.  First  the  king  is  solemnly  reminded 
that  Jehovah,  Whom  he  no  longer  can  refuse  to  know, 
is  the  God  of  the  Hebrews,  has  a  claim  upon  their 
services,  and  demands  them.  In  oppressing  the  nation, 
therefore,  Pharaoh  usurped  what  belonged  to  the  Lord. 
Now,  this  is  the  eternal  charter  of  the  rights  of  all 
humanity.  Whoever  encroaches  on  the  just  sphere  of 
the  free  action  of  his  neighbour  deprives  him,  to  exactly 
the  same  extent,  of  the  power  to  glorify  God  by  a  free 
obedience.  The  heart  glorifies  God  by  submission  to 
so  hard  a  lot,  but  the  co-operation  of  the  11  whole  body 
and  soul  and  spirit"  does  not  visibly  bear  testimony  to 
the  regulating  power  of  grace.  The  oppressor  may 
contend  (like  some  slave-owners)  that  he  guides  his 
human  property  better  than  it  would  guide  itself.  But 
one  assertion  he  cannot  make :  namely,  that  God  is 
receiving  the  loyal  homage  of  a  life  spontaneously 
devoted  ;  that  a  man  and  not  a  machine  is  glorifying 
God  in  this  body  and  spirit  which  are  God’s.  For  the 
body  is  but  a  chattel.  This  is  why  the  Christian 
doctrine  of  the  religious  equality  of  all  men  in  Christ 
carries  with  it  the  political  assertion  of  the  equal 
secular  rights  of  the  whole  human  race.  I  must  not 


1 43 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


transfer  to  myself  the  solemn  duty  of  my  neighbour  to 
offer  up  to  God  the  sacrifice  not  only  of  his  chastened 
spirit  but  also  of  his  obedient  life. 

And  these  words  were  also  a  lifelong  admonition  to 
every  Israelite.  He  held  his  liberties  from  God.  He 
was  not  free  to  be  violent  and  wanton,  and  to  say  “  I 
am  delivered  to  commit  all  these  abominations.”  The 
dignities  of  life  were  bound  up  with  its  responsibilities. 

Well,  it  is  not  otherwise  to-day.  As  truly  as  Moses, 
the  champions  of  our  British  liberties  were  earnest  and 
God-fearing  men.  Not  for  leave  to  revel,  to  accumulate 
enormous  fortunes,  and  to  excite  by  their  luxuries  the 
envy  and  rage  of  neglected  brothers,  while  possessing 
more  enormous  powers  to  bless  them  than  ever  were 
entrusted  to  a  class, — not  for  this  our  heroes  bled  on 
the  field  and  on  the  scaffold.  Tyrants  rarely  deny 
to  rich  men  leave  to  be  self-indulgent.  And  self- 
indulgence  rarely  nerves  men  to  heroic  effort.  It  is 
for  the  freedom  of  the  soul  that  men  dare  all  things. 
And  liberty  is  doomed  wherever  men  forget  that  the  true 
freeman  is  the  servant  of  Jehovah.  On  these  terms  the 
first  demand  for  a  national  emancipation  was  enforced. 

And  next,  Pharaoh  is  warned  that  God,  who  at  first 
threatened  to  destroy  his  firstborn,  but  had  hitherto 
come  short  of  such  a  deadly  stroke,  had  not,  as  he 
might  flatter  himself,  exhausted  His  power  to  avenge. 
Pharaoh  should  yet  experience  “ all  My  plagues.”  And 
there  is  a  dreadful  significance  in  the  phrase  which 
threatens  to  put  these  plagues,  with  regard  to  others, 
“upon  thy  servants  and  upon  thy  people,”  but  with 
regard  to  Pharaoh  himself  “  upon  thine  heart.” 

There  it  was  that  the  true  scourge  smote.  Thence 
came  ruin  and  defeat.  His  infatuation  was  more 
dreadful  than  hail  in  the  cloud  and  locusts  on  the 


13-35-] 


THE  SEVENTH  PLAGUE. 


149 


blast,  than  the  darkness  at  noon  and  the  midnight  wail 
of  a  bereaved  nation.  For  his  infatuation  involved 
all  these. 

The  next  assertion  is  not  what  the  Authorised 
Version  made  it,  and  what  never  was  fulfilled.  It  is 
not,  il  Now  I  will  stretch  out  My  hand  to  smite  thee 
and  thy  people  with  pestilence,  and  thou  shalt  be  cut 
off  from  the  earth.”  It  says,  u  Now  I  had  done  this,  as 
far  as  any  restraint  for  thy  sake  is  concerned,  but  in 
very  deed  for  this  cause  have  I  made  thee  to  stand  ” 
(unsmitten),  “  for  to  show  thee  My  power,  and  that  My 
name  may  be  declared  throughout  all  the  earth  ”  (vers. 
15,  16).  The  course  actually  taken  was  more  for  the 
glory  of  God,  and  a  better  warning  to  others,  than  a 
sudden  stroke,  however  crushing. 

And  so  we  find,  many  years  after  all  this  generation 
has  passed  away,  that  a  strangely  distorted  version 
of  these  events  is  current  among  the  Philistines  in 
Palestine.  In  the  days  of  Eli,  when  the  ark  was 
brought  into  the  camp,  they  said,  u  Woe  unto  us!  who 
shall  deliver  us  out  of  the  hand  of  these  mighty  gods  ? 
These  are  the  gods  that  smote  the  Egyptians  with  all 
manner  of  plagues  in  the  wilderness  ”  (1  Sam.  iv.  8). 
And  this,  along  with  the  impression  which  Rahab 
declared  that  the  Exodus  and  what  followed  it  had 
made,  may  help  us  to  understand  what  a  mighty 
influence  upon  the  wars  of  Palestine  the  scourging  of 
Egypt  had,  how  terror  fell  upon  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  land,  and  they  melted  away  (Josh.  ii.  9,  10). 

And  perhaps  it  may  save  us  from  the  unconscious 
egoism  which  always  deems  that  I  myself  shall  not 
be  treated  quite  as  severely  as  I  deserve,  to  mark  how 
the  punishment  of  one  affects  the  interests  of  all. 

Added  to  all  this  is  a  kind  of  half-ironical  clemency, 


*50 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


an  opportunity  of  escape  if  he  would  humble  himself 
so  far  as  to  take  warning  even  to  a  small  extent.  The 
plague  was  to  be  of  a  kind  especially  rare  in  Egypt, 
and  of  utterly  unknown  severity — such  hail  as  had  not 
been  in  Egypt  since  the  day  it  w*as  founded  until  now. 
But  he  and  his  people  might,  if  they  would,  hasten  to 
bring  in  their  cattle  and  all  that  they  had  in  the  field. 
Pharaoh,  after  his  sore  experience  of  the  threats  of 
Moses,  would  find  it  a  hard  trial  in  any  case,  whether 
to  withdraw  his  property  or  to  brave  the  stroke.  To 
him  it  was  a  kind  of  challenge.  To  those  of  his 
subjects  who  had  any  proper  feeling  it  was  a  merciful 
deliverance,  and  a  profoundly  skilful  education  of  their 
faith,  which  began  by  an  obedience  probably  hesitating, 
but  had  few  doubts  upon  the  morrow.  We  read  that 
he  who  feared  the  Lord  among  the  servants  of  Pharaoh 
made  his  servants  and  his  cattle  flee  into  the  houses; 
and  this  is  the  first  hint  that  the  plagues,  viewed  as 
discipline,  were  not  utterly  vain.  The  existence  of 
others  who  feared  Jehovah  beside  the  Jews  prepares 
us  for  the  “  mixed  multitude"  who  came  up  along  with 
them  (xii.  38),  and  whose  ill-instructed  and  probably 
very  selfish  adhesion  was  quite  consistent  with  such 
sensual  discontent  as  led  the  whole  congregation  into 
sin  (Num.  xi.  4). 

To  make  the  connection  between  Jehovah  and  the 
impending  storm  more  obvious  still,  Moses  stretched 
his  rod  toward  heaven,  and  there  was  hail,  and  fire 
mingled  with  the  hail,  such  as  slew  man  and  beast, 
and  smote  the  trees,  and  destroyed  all  the  vegetation 
which  had  yet  grown  up.  The  heavens,  the  atmos¬ 
phere,  wTere  now  enrolled  in  the  conspiracy  against 
Pharaoh  :  they  too  served  Jehovah. 

In  such  a  storm,  the  terror  was  even  greater  than 


ix- *3-35  ] 


THE  SEVENTH  PLAGUE. 


*5* 


the  peril.  When  a  great  writer  of  our  own  time  called 
attention  to  the  elaborate  machinery  by  which  God  in 
nature  impresses  man  with  the  sense  of  a  formidable 
power  above,  he  chose  a  thunderstorm  as  the  most 
striking  example  of  his  meaning. 

il  Nothing  appears  to  me  more  remarkable  than  the 
array  of  scenic  magnificence  by  which  the  imagination 
is  appalled,  in  myriads  of  instances  when  the  actual 
danger  is  comparatively  small ;  so  that  the  utmost 
possible  impression  of  awe  shall  be  produced  upon  the 
minds  of  all,  though  direct  suffering  is  inflicted  upon 
few.  Consider,  for  instance,  the  moral  effect  of  a  single 
thunderstorm.  Perhaps  two  or  three  persons  may 
be  struck  dead  within  a  space  of  a  hundred  square 
miles  ;  and  their  death,  unaccompanied  by  the  scenery 
of  the  storm,  would  produce  little  more  than  a  momen¬ 
tary  sadness  in  the  busy  hearts  of  living  men.  But 
the  preparation  for  the  judgment,  by  all  that  mighty 
gathering  of  the  clouds  ;  by  the  questioning  of  the 
forest  leaves,  in  their  terrified  stillness,  which  way  the 
winds  shall  go  forth  ;  by  the  murmuring  to  each  other, 
deep  in  the  distance,  of  the  destroying  angels  before 
they  draw  their  swords  of  fire ;  by  the  march  of  the 
funeral  darkness  in  the  midst  of  the  noonday,  and  the 
rattling  of  the  dome  of  heaven  beneath  the  chariot 
wheels  of  death ; — on  how  many  minds  do  not  these 
produce  an  impression  almost  as  great  as  the  actual 
witnessing  of  the  fatal  issue  !  and  how  strangely  are 
the  expressions  of  the  threatening  elements  fitted  to 
the  apprehensions  of  the  human  soul  !  The  lurid 
colour,  the  long,  irregular,  convulsive  sound,  the  ghastly 
shapes  of  flaming  and  heaving  cloud,  are  all  true  and 
faithful  in  their  appeal  to  our  instinct  of  danger.” — 
Ruskin,  Stones  oj  Venice,  III.  197-8. 


152 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


Such  a  tempest,  dreadful  anywhere,  would  be  most 
appalling  of  all  in  the  serene  atmosphere  of  Egypt, 
to  unaccustomed  spectators,  and  minds  troubled  by 
their  guilt.  Accordingly  we  find  that  Pharaoh  was 
less  terrified  by  the  absolute  mischief  done  than  by 
the  4<  voices  of  God,”  when,  unnerved  for  the  moment, 
he  confessed  at  least  that  he  had  sinned  “  this  time  ” 
(a  singularly  weak  repentance  for  his  long  and  daring 
resistance,  even  if  we  explain  it,  "  this  time  I  confess 
that  I  have  sinned  ”),  and  went  on  in  his  terror  to 
pour  out  orthodox  phrases  and  professions  with 
suspicious  fluency.  The  main  point  was  the  bargain 
which  he  proposed :  “  In  treat  the  Lord,  for  there  hath 
been  enough  of  mighty  thunderings  and  hail ;  and  I 
will  let  you  go,  and  ye  shall  stay  no  longer/’ 

Looking  attentively  at  all  this,  we  discern  in  it  a 
sad  resemblance  to  some  confessions  of  these  latter 
days.  Men  are  driven  by  affliction  to  acknowledge 
God :  they  confess  the  offence  which  is  palpable,  and 
even  add  that  God  is  righteous  and  that  they  are  not. 
If  possible,  they  shelter  themselves  from  lonely  condem¬ 
nation  by  general  phrases,  such  as  that  all  are  wicked ; 
just  as  Pharaoh,  although  he  would  have  scoffed  at  the 
notion  of  any  national  volition  except  his  own,  said, 
“  I  and  my  people  are  sinners.”  Above  all,  they  are 
much  more  anxious  for  the  removal  of  the  rod  than 
for  the  cleansing  of  the  guilt ;  and  if  this  can  be 
accomplished  through  the  mediation  of  another,  they 
have  as  little  desire  as  Pharaoh  had  for  any  personal 
approach  to  God,  Whom  they  fear,  and  if  possible 
repel. 

And  by  these  signs,  every  experienced  observer 
expects  that  if  they  are  delivered  out  of  trouble  they 
will  forget  their  vows. 


13-35-1 


THE  SEVENTH  PLAGUE . 


153 


Moses  was  exceedingly  meek.  And  therefore,  or 
else  because  the  message  of  God  implied  that  other 
plagues  were  to  succeed  this,  he  consented  to  intercede, 
yet  adding  the  simple  and  dignified  protest,  “As  for 
thee  and  thy  pf  jple,  I  know  that  ye  will  not  yet  fear 
Jehovah  God."  And  so  it  came  to  pass.  The  heart 
of  Pharaoh  was  made  heavy,  and  he  would  not  let 
Israel  go. 

Looking  back  upon  this  miracle,  we  are  reminded 
of  the  mighty  part  which  atmospheric  changes  have 
played  in  the  history  of  the  world.  Snowstorms 
saved  Europe  from  the  Turk  and  from  Napoleon : 
the  wind  played  almost  as  important  a  part  in  our 
liberation  from  James,  and  again  in  the  defeat  of  the 
plans  of  the  French  Revolution  to  invade  us,  as  in  the 
destruction  of  the  Armada.  And  so  we  read,  “  Hast 
thou  entered  the  treasuries  of  the  snow  ?  or  hast  thou 
seen  the  treasuries  of  the  hail,  which  I  have  reserved 
against  the  time  of  trouble,  against  the  day  of  battle 
and  war  ?  "  (Job  xxxviii.  22-3). 


*  Except  in  one  passage  (Gen.  ii.  4  to  iii.  23)  these  titles  of  Deity 
are  nowhere  else  combined  in  the  books  of  Moses. 


CHAPTER  X. 


THE  EIGHTH  PLAGUE. 


X.  1-20. 


HE  Lord  would  not  command  His  servant  again 


A  to  enter  the  dangerous  presence  of  the  sullen 
prince,  without  a  reason  which  would  sustain  his  faith  : 
"  For  I  have  made  heavy  his  heart.”  The  pronoun  is 
emphatic :  it  means  to  say,  1  His  foolhardiness  is  My 
doing  and  cannot  go  beyond  My  will :  thou  art  safe.' 
And  the  same  encouragement  belongs  to  all  who  do  the 
sacred  will :  not  a  hair  of  their  head  shall  truly  perish, 
since  life  and  death  are  the  servants  of  their  God. 
Thus,  in  the  storm  of  human  passion,  as  of  the  winds, 
He  says,  “  It  is  I,  be  not  afraid  ” ;  making  the  wrath  of 
man  to  praise  Him,  stilling  alike  the  tumult  of  the 
waves  and  the  madness  of  the  people. 

It  is  possible  that  even  the  merciful  mitigations  of 
the  last  plague  were  used  by  infatuated  hearts  to  justify 
their  wilfulness :  the  most  valuable  crops  of  all  had 
escaped  ;  so  that  these  judgments,  however  dire,  were 
not  quite  beyond  endurance.  Just  such  a  course  of 
reasoning  deludes  all  who  forget  that  the  goodness  of 
God  leadeth  to  repentance. 

Besides  the  reasons  already  given  for  lengthening 
out  the  train  of  judgments,  it  is  added  that  Israel  should 
teach  the  story  to  posterity,  and  both  fathers  and 
children  should  “know  that  I  am  Jehovah.” 


X.  1-20.] 


THE  EIGHTH  PLAGUE. 


155 


Accordingly  it  became  a  favourite  title — “  The  Lord 
which  brought  thee  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt." 
Even  the  apostates  under  Sinai  would  not  reject  so 
illustrious  a  memory :  their  feast  was  nominally  to 
Jehovah;  and  their  idol  was  an  image  of  “the  gods 
which  brought  thee  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt" 
(xxxii.  4,  5). 

Has  our  land  no  deliverances  for  which  to  be  thank¬ 
ful  ?  Instead  of  boastful  self-assertion,  should  we  not 
say,  “We  have  heard  with  our  ears,  O  God,  and  our 
fathers  have  declared  unto  us,  the  noble  works  that 
Thou  didst  in  their  days  and  in  the  old  time  before 
them  ?  "  Have  we  forgotten  that  national  mercies  call 
aloud  for  national  thanksgiving  ?  And  in  the  family, 
and  in  the  secret  life  of  each,  are  there  no  rescues,  no 
emancipations,  no  enemies  overcome  by  a  hand  not 
our  own,  which  call  for  reverent  acknowledgment  ? 
“These  things  were  our  examples,  and  are  written 
for  our  admonition." 

The  reproof  now  spoken  to  Pharaoh  is  sterner  than 
any  previous  one.  There  is  no  reasoning  in  it.  The 
demand  is  peremptory  :  “  How  long  wilt  thou  refuse  to 
humble  thyself?”  With  it  is  a  sharp  and  short  com¬ 
mand  :  “  Let  My  people  go,  that  they  may  serve  Me." 
And  with  this  is  a  detailed  and  tremendous  threat. 
It  is  strange,  in  the  face  of  the  knowledge  accumulated 
since  the  objection  called  for  it,  to  remember  that  once 
this  narrative  was  challenged,  because  locusts,  it  was 
said,  are  unknown  in  Egypt.  They  are  mentioned  in 
the  inscriptions.  Great  misery  wras  caused  by  them 
in  1463,  and  just  three  hundred  years  later  Niebuhr 
was  himself  at  Cairo  during  a  plague  of  them.  Equally 
arbitrary  is  the  objection  that  Joel  predicted  locusts 
“such  as  there  hath  not  been  ever  the  like,  neither 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


156 


shall  be  any  more  after  them,  even  to  the  years  of 
many  generations  ”  (ii.  2),  w  hereas  we  read  of  these 
that  “beiore  them  there  wrere  no  such  locusts  as 
they,  neither  after  them  shall  be  such"  (x.  14).  The 
objection  is  whimsical  in  its  absurdity,  when  w7e 
remember  that  Joel  spoke  distinctly  of  Zion  and  the 
holy  mountain  (ii.  1),  and  Exodus  of  “the  borders  of 
Egypt”  (x.  14). 

But  it  is  true  that  locusts  are  comparatively  rare  in 
Egypt ;  so  that  while  the  meaning  of  the  threat  would 
be  appreciated,  familiarity  wTould  not  have  steeled  them 
against  it.  The  ravages  of  the  locust  are  terrible 
indeed,  and  coming  just  in  time  to  ruin  the  crops 
which  had  escaped  the  hail,  would  complete  the  misery 
of  the  land. 

One  speaks  of  the  sudden  change  of  colour  by  the 
disappearance  of  verdure  where  they  alight  as  being 
like  the  rolling  up  of  a  carpet ;  and  here  we  read  “they 
shall  cover  the  eye  of  the  earth," — a  phrase  peculiar  to 
the  Pentateuch  (ver.  15;  Num.  xxii.  5,  11);  and  they 
shall  eat  the  residue  of  that  which  has  escaped,  .  .  . 
and  they  shall  fill  thy  houses,  and  the  .  .  .  houses  of 
all  the  Egyptians,  wrhich  neither  thy  fathers  nor  thy 
fathers'  fathers  have  seen." 

After  uttering  the  appointed  warning,  Moses  abruptly 
left,  awaiting  no  negociations,  plainly  regarding  them 
as  vain. 

But  now,  for  the  first  time,  the  servants  of  Pharaoh 
interfered,  declared  the  country  to  be  ruined,  and 
pressed  him  to  surrender.  And  yet  it  was  now  first 
that  we  read  (ver.  1)  that  their  hearts  were  hardened 
as  well  as  his.  For  that  is  a  hard  heart  that  does  not 
remonstrate  against  wrong,  however  plainly  God  reveals 
His  displeasure,  until  new  troubles  are  at  hand,  and 


X.  I  -20.] 


THE  EIGHTH  FLAGUE. 


*57 


which  even  then  has  no  regard  for  the  wrongs  of 
Israel,  but  only  for  the  woes  of  Egypt.  It  is  a  hard 
heart,  therefore,  which  intends  to  repent  upon  its 
deathbed ;  for  its  motives  are  identical  with  these. 

Pharaoh’s  behaviour  is  that  of  a  spoiled  child,  who 
is  indeed  the  tyrant  most  familiar  to  us.  He  feels 
that  he  must  yield,  or  else  why  should  the  brothers  be 
recalled  ?  And  yet,  when  it  comes  to  the  point,  he 
tries  to  play  the  master  still,  by  dictating  the  terms  for 
his  own  surrender ;  and  breaks  off  the  negociation 
rather  than  do  frankly  what  he  must  feel  that  it  is 
necessary  to  do.  Moses  laid  his  finger  accurately  upon 
the  disease  when  he  reproached  him  for  refusing  to 
humble  himself.  And  if  his  behaviour  seem  unnatural, 
it  is  worth  observation  that  Napoleon,  the  greatest 
modern  example  of  proud,  intellectual,  godless  infatua¬ 
tion,  allowed  himself  to  be  crushed  at  Leipsic  through 
just  the  same  reluctance  to  do  thoroughly  and  without 
self-deception  what  he  found  it  necessary  to  consent  to 
do.  “  Napoleon,”  says  his  apologist,  Thiers,  “at  length 
determined  to  retreat — a  resolution  humbling  to  his 
pride.  Unfortunately,  instead  ot  a  retreat  frankly 
admitted  ...  he  determined  on  one  which  from  its 
imposing  character  should  not  be  a  real  retreat  at  all, 
and  should  be  accomplished  in  open  day.”  And  this 
perversity,  which  ruined  him,  is  traced  back  to  "  the 
illusions  of  pride.” 

Well,  it  was  quite  as  hard  for  the  Pharaoh  to  sur¬ 
render  at  discretion,  as  for  the  Corsican  to  stoop  to 
a  nocturnal  retreat.  Accordingly,  he  asks,  "  Who  are 
ye  that  shall  go  ?  ”  and  when  Moses  very  explicitly 
and  resolutely  declares  that  they  will  all  go,  with  all 
their  property,  his  passion  overcomes  him,  he  feels  that 
to  consent  is  to  lose  them  for  ever,  and  he  exclaims, 


i58 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


“So  be  Jehovah  with  you  as  I  will  let  you  go  and 
your  little  ones  :  look  to  it,  for  evil  is  before  you  ” — that 
is  to  say,  Your  intentions  are  bad.  “  Go  ye  that  are 
men,  and  serve  the  Lord,  for  that  is  what  ye  desire," — 
no  more  than  that  is  implied  in  your  demand,  unless 
it  is  a  mere  pretence,  under  which  more  lurks  than  it 
avowrs. 

But  he  and  they  have  long  been  in  a  state  of  w7ar  : 
menaces,  submissions,  and  treacheries  have  followed 
each  other  fast,  and  he  has  no  reason  to  complain  if 
their  demands  are  raised.  Moreover,  his  own  nation 
celebrated  religious  festivals  in  company  with  their 
wives  and  children,  so  that  his  rejoinder  is  an  empty 
outburst  of  rage.  And  of  a  Jewish  feast  it  was  sak\ 
a  little  later,  “Thou  shalt  rejoice  before  the  Loid  thy 
God,  thou  and  thy  son  and  thy  daughter,  and  thy 
manservant  and  thy  maidservant  .  .  .  and  the  stranger, 
and  the  fatherless,  and  the  widow"  (Deut.  xvi.  n). 
There  was  no  insincerity  in  the  demand  ;  and  although 
the  suspicions  of  the  king  wTere  naturally  excited  by 
the  exultant  and  ever-rising  hopes  of  the  Hebrews, 
and  the  defiant  attitude  of  Moses,  yet  even  now  there 
is  as  little  reason  to  suspect  bad  faith  as  to  suppose 
that  Israel,  once  released,  could  ever  have  resumed  the 
same  abject  attitude  toward  Egypt  as  before.  They 
would  have  come  back  victorious,  and  therefore  ready 
to  formulate  new  demands  ;  already  half  emancipated, 
and  therefore  prepared  for  the  perfecting  of  the  work. 

And  now,  at  a  second  command  as  explicit  as  that 
which  bade  him  utter  the  warning,  Moses,  anxiously 
watched  by  many,  stretched  out  his  hand  over  the 
devoted  realm.  At  the  gesture,  the  spectators  felt  that 
a  fiat  had  gone  forth.  But  the  result  was  strangely 
different  from  that  wdiich  followed  his  invocation,  both 


X.  1-20.] 


THE  EIGHTH  PLAGUE . 


>59 


ol  the  previous  and  the  following  plague,  when  we  may 
believe  that  as  he  raised  his  hand,  the  hail-storm 
burst  in  thunder,  and  the  curtain  fell  upon  the  sky. 
Now  there  only  arose  a  gentle  east  wind  (unlike  the 
“ exceeding  strong  west  wind”  that  followed),  but  it 
blew  steadily  all  that  day  and  all  the  following  night. 
The  forebodings  of  Egypt  would  understand  it  well : 
the  prolonged  period  during  which  the  curse  was  being 
steadily  wafted  toward  them  was  an  awful  measure  of 
the  wide  regions  over  which  the  power  of  Jehovah 
reached ;  and  when  it  was  morning,  the  east  wind 
brought  the  locusts,  that  dreadful  curse  which  Joel  has 
compared  to  a  disciplined  and  devastating  invader, 
“the  army  of  the  Lord,”  and  the  first  woe  that  heralds 
the  Day  of  the  Lord  in  the  Apocalypse  (Joel  ii.  1-1 1 ; 
Rev.  ix.  1-11). 

The  completeness  of  the  ruin  brought  a  swift  surren¬ 
der,  but  it  has  been  well  said  that  folly  is  the  wisdom 
which  is  only  wise  too  late,  and,  let  us  add,  too  fitfully. 
If  Pharaoh  had  only  submitted  before  the  plague 
instead  of  after  it  I*  If  he  had  only  respected  himself 
enough  to  be  faithful,  instead  of  being  too  vain  really 
to  yield  ! 

It  is  an  interesting  coincidence  that,  since  he  had 
this  time  defied  the  remonstrances  of  his  advisers,  his 
confession  of  sin  is  entirely  personal :  it  is  no  longer, 
u  I  and  my  people  are  sinners,”  but  “  I  have  sinned 
against  the  Lord  your  God,  and  against  you.”  This 
last  clause  was  bitter  to  his  lips,  but  the  need  for  their 


*  Oddly  enough,  the  same  historian  already  quoted,  relating  the 
story  of  the  same  day  at  Leipsic,  says  of  Napoleon’s  dialogue  with 
M.  de  Merfeld,  that  he  ‘‘used  an  expression  which,  if  uttered  at 
the  Congress  of  Prague,  would  have  changed  his  lot  sud  ours. 
Unfortunately,  it  was  now  too  late.” 


i6o 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


intercession  was  urgent :  life  and  death  were  at  stake 
upon  the  removal  of  this  dense  cloud  of  creatures 
which  penetrated  everywhere,  leaving  everywhere  an 
evil  odour,  and  of  which  a  later  sufferer  complains, 
“  We  could  not  eat,  but  we  bit  a  locust ;  nor  open  our 
mouths,  but  locusts  filled  them.” 

Therefore  he  went  on  to  entreat  volubly,  "  Forgive, 
I  pray  thee,  my  sin  only  this  once,  and  in  treat  Jehovah 
your  God  that  Fie  may  take  away  from  me  this  death 
only.” 

And  at  the  prayer  of  Moses,  the  Lord  caused  the 
breeze  to  veer  and  rise  into  a  hurricane :  u  The  Lord 
turned  an  exceeding  strong  west  wind.”  Now,  the 
locust  can  float  very  well  upon  an  easy  breeze,  and 
so  it  had  been  wafted  over  the  Red  Sea ;  but  it  is 
at  once  beaten  down  by  a  storm,  and  when  it  touches 
the  water  it  is  destroyed.  Thus  simply  was  the 
plague  removed. 

“But  the  Lord  made  strong  Pharaoh’s  heart,”  and 
so,  his  fears  being  conquered,  his  own  rebellious  will 
went  on  upon  its  evil  way.  He  would  not  let 
Israel  go. 

This  narrative  throws  light  upon  a  thousand  vows 
made  upon  sick  beds,  but  broken  when  the  sufferer 
recovers ;  and  a  thousand  prayers  for  amendment, 
breathed  in  all  the  sincerity  of  panic,  and  forgotten 
with  all  the  levity  of  security.  It  shows  also,  in  the 
hesitating  and  abortive  half-submission  of  the  tyrant, 
the  greater  folly  of  many  professing  Christians,  who 
will,  for  Christ’s  sake,  surrender  all  their  sins  except 
one  or  two,  and  make  any  confession  except  that  which 
really  brings  low  their  pride. 

Thoroughness,  decision,  depth,  and  self-surrender, 
needed  by  Pharaoh,  are  needed  by  every  soul  of  man. 


X.  2I-29-] 


THE  NINTH  PLAGUE. 


161 


THE  NINTH  PLAGUE. 
x.  21-29. 

We  have  taken  it  as  settled  that  the  Pharaoh  of  the 
Exodus  was  Menephtah,  the  Beloved  of  the  God  Ptah. 
If  so,  his  devotion  to  the  gods  throws  a  curious  light 
upon  his  first  scorn  of  Jehovah,  and  his  long  continued 
resistance  ;  and  also  upon  the  threat  of  vengeance  to 
be  executed  upon  the  gods  of  Egypt,  as  if  they  were 
a  resisting  power.  But  there  is  a  special  signifi¬ 
cance  in  the  ninth  plague,  when  we  connect  it  with 
Menephtah. 

In  the  Tombs  of  the  Kings  at  Thebes  there  is  to  be 
seen,  fresh  and  lifelike,  the  admirably  sculptured  effigy 
of  this  king — a  weak  and  cruel  face,  with  the  receding 
forehead  of  his  race,  but  also  their  nose  like  a  beak, 
and  their  sharp  chin.  Over  his  head  is  the  inscription — 

“  Lord  of  the  Two  Lands,  Beloved  of  the  God  Amen ; 

Lord  of  Diadems,  Beloved  of  the  God  Ptah : 

Crowned  by  Amen  with  dominion  of  the  world  : 

Cherished  by  the  Sun  in  the  great  abode.” 

This  formidable  personage  is  delineated  by  the  court 
sculptor  with  his  hand  stretched  out  in  worship,  and 
under  it  is  written  t(  He  adores  the  Sun :  he  worships 
Hor  of  the  solar  horizons." 

The  worship,  thus  chosen  as  the  most  characteristic 
of  this  king,  either  by  himself  or  by  some  consummate 
artist,  was  to  be  tested  now. 

Could  the  sun  help  him  ?  or  was  it,  like  so  many 
minor  forces  of  earth  and  air,  at  the  mercy  of  the  Gcd 
of  Israel  ? 

There  is  a  terrible  abruptness  about  the  coming  of 

1 1 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


the  ninth  plague.  Like  the  third  and  sixth,  it  is 
inflicted  unannounced ;  and  the  parleying,  the  driving 
of  a  bargain  and  then  breaking  it,  by  which  the  eighth 
was  attended,  is  quite  enough  to  account  for  this. 
Moreover,  the  experience  of  every  man  teaches  him 
that  each  method  has  its  own  impressiveness :  the 
announcement  of  punishment  awes,  and  a  surprise 
alarms,  and  when  they  are  alternated,  every  possible 
door  of  access  to  the  conscience  is  approached.  If 
the  heart  of  Pharaoh  was  now  beyond  hope,  it  does 
not  follow  that  all  his  people  were  equally  hardened. 
What  an  effect  was  produced  upon  those  courtiers  who 
so  earnestly  supported  the  recent  demand  of  Moses, 
when  this  new  plague  fell  upon  them  unawares  ! 

But  net  only  is  there  no  announcement :  the  narra¬ 
tive  is  so  concentrated  and  brief  as  to  give  a  graphic 
rendering  of  the  surprise  and  terror  of  the  time.  Not 
a  word  is  wasted  : — 

“The  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Stretch  out  thine  hand 
toward  heaven,  that  there  may  be  darkness  over  the 
land  of  Egypt,  even  darkness  that  may  be  felt.  And 
Moses  stretched  forth  his  hand  toward  heaven ;  and 
there  was  a  thick  darkness  in  all  the  land  of  Egypt 
three  days :  they  saw  not  one  another,  neither  rose 
any  from  his  place  three  days ;  but  all  the  children  of 
Israel  had  light  in  their  dwellings”  (vers.  21-3).  We 
are  not  told  anything  of  the  emotions  of  the  king,  as 
the  prophet  strides  into  his  presence,  and  before  the 
cowering  court,  silently  raises  his  hand  and  quenches 
the  day.  We  ma}r  infer  his  temper,  if  we  please,  from 
the  frantic  outbreak  of  menace  and  rage  in  which  he 
presently  warns  the  man  whose  coming  is  the  same 
thing  as  calamity  to  see  his  face  no  more.  Nothing  is 
said,  again,  about  the  evil  angels  by  which,  according 


X.  2I-29-] 


THE  NINTH  PLAGUE. 


i63 


to  later  narratives,  that  long  night  was  haunted.*  And 
after  all  it  is  more  impressive  to  think  of  the  blank, 
utter  paralysis  of  dread  in  which  a  nation  held  its 
breath,  benumbed  and  motionless,  until  vitality  was 
almost  exhausted,  and  even  Pharaoh  chose  rather  to 
surrender  than  to  die. 

As  the  people  lay  cowering  in  their  fear,  there  was 
plenty  to  occupy  their  minds.  They  would  remember 
the  first  dreadful  threat,  not  yet  accomplished,  to  slay 
their  firstborn ;  and  the  later  assertion  that  if  pestilence 
had  not  destroyed  them,  it  was  because  God  would 
plague  them  with  all  His  plagues.  They  would  reflect 
upon  all  their  defeated  duties,  and  how  the  sun  himself 
was  now  withdrawn  at  the  waving  of  the  prophet's 
hand.  And  then  a  ghastly  foreboding  would  complete 
their  dread.  What  was  it  that  darkness  typified,  in 
every  Oriental  nation — nay,  in  all  the  world  ?  Death  ! 
Job  speaks  of 

“  The  land  of  darkness  and  of  the  shadow  of  death ; 

A  land  of  thick  darkness,  as  darkness  itself ; 

A  land  of  the  shadow  of  death  without  any  order, 

And  where  the  light  is  as  darkness”  (x.  21,  22). 

With  us,  a  mortal  sentence  is  given  in  a  black  cap ; 
in  the  East,  far  more  expressively,  the  head  of  the 
culprit  was  covered,  and  the  darkness  which  thus  came 
upon  him  expressed  his  doom.  Thus  u  they  covered 
Haman's  face "  (Esther  vii.  8).  Thus  to  destroy  “  the 
face  of  the  covering  that  is  cast  over  all  peoples  and  the 
veil  that  is  spread  over  all  nations,"  is  the  same  thing 
as  to  il  swallow  up  death,"  being  the  visible  destruction 
of  the  embodied  death-sentence  (Isa.  xxv.  7,  8).  And 


*  Such  is  probably  not  the  meaning  in  Ps.  lxxviii.  49  (see  R.V.), 
though  from  it  the  tradition  may  have  sprung. 


164 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


now  this  veil  was  spread  over  all  the  radiant  land 
of  Egypt.  Chill,  and  hungry,  and  afraid  to  move,  the 
worst  horror  of  all  that  prolonged  midnight  was  the 
mental  agony  of  dire  anticipation. 

In  other  respects  there  had  been  far  worse  calamities, 
but  through  its  effect  upon  the  imagination  this  dreadful 
plague  was  a  fit  prelude  to  the  tenth,  which  it  hinted 
and  premonished. 

In  the  Apocryphal  Book  of  Wisdom  there  is  a 
remarkable  study  of  this  plague,  regarded  as  retribution 
in  kind.  It  avenges  the  oppression  of  Israel.  “  For 
when  unrighteous  men  thought  to  oppress  the  holy 
nation,  they  being  shut  up  in  their  houses,  the  prisoners 
of  darkness,  and  fettered  with  the  bonds  of  a  long 
night,  lay  exiled  from  the  eternal  Providence  ”  (xvii.  2). 
It  expresses  in  the  physical  realm  their  spiritual  misery  : 
“  For  while  they  supposed  to  lie  hid  in  their  secret 
sins,  they  were  scattered  under  a  thick  veil  of  forget¬ 
fulness”  (ver.  3).  It  retorted  on  them  the  illusions  of 
their  sorcerers  :  “  as  for  the  illusions  of  art  magick,  they 
were  put  down.  ...  For  they,  that  promised  to  drive 
away  terrors  and  troubles  from  a  sick  soul,  were  sick 
themselves  of  fear,  worthy  to  be  laughed  at”  (vers.  7,  8). 
In  another  place  the  Egyptians  are  declared  to  be 
worse  than  the  men  of  Sodom,  because  they  brought 
into  bondage  friends  and  not  strangers,  and  grievously 
afflicted  those  whom  they  had  received  with  feasting ; 
“  therefore  even  with  blindness  were  these  stricken, 
as  those  were  at  the  doors  of  the  righteous  man.” 
(xix.  14-17).  And  we  may  well  believe  that  the  long 
night  was  haunted  with  special  terrors,  if  we  add  this 
wise  explanation  :  “  For  wickedness,  condemned  by  her 
own  witness,  is  very  timorous,  and  being  pressed  by 
conscience,  always  forecasteth  grievous  things.  For” 


X.  21-29.]  THE  NINTH  PLAGUE.  165 

— and  this  is  a  sentence  of  transcendent  merit — “fear 
is  nothing  else  than  a  betrayal  of  the  succours  that 
reason  offereth"  (xvii.  11,  12).  Therefore  it  is  con¬ 
cluded  that  their  own  hearts  were  their  worst  tor¬ 
mentors,  alarmed  by  whistling  winds,  or  melodious 
song  of  birds,  or  pleasing  fall  of  waters,  “  for  the 
whole  world  shined  with  clear  light,  and  none  were 
hindered  in  their  labour :  over  them  only  was  spread 
a  heavy  night,  an  image  of  that  darkness  which  should 
afterward  receive  them  :  }^et  were  they  unto  themselves 
more  grievous  than  the  darkness”  (vers.  20,  2l). 

Isaiah,  too,  who  is  full  of  allusions  to  the  early 
history  of  his  people,  finds  in  this  plague  of  darkness 
an  image  of  all  mental  distress  and  spiritual  gloom. 
“  We  look  for  light,  but  behold  darkness  ;  for  brightness, 
but  we  walk  in  obscurity  :  we  grope  for  the  wall  like 
the  blind,  yea,  we  grope  as  those  that  have  no  eyes : 
we  stumble  at  noonday  as  in  the  twilight  ”  (lix.  10). 
Here  the  sinful  nation  is  reduced  to  the  misery  of 
Egypt.  But  if  she  were  obedient  she  would  enjoy  all 
the  immunities  of  her  forefathers  amid  Egyptian 
gloom  :  “  Then  shall  thy  light  rise  in  darkness  and  thy 
obscurity  as  the  noonday  ”  (lviii.  10) ;  “  Darkness  shall 
cover  the  earth,  and  gross  darkness  the  people,  but 
the  Lord  shall  arise  upon  thee,  and  His  glory  shall 
be  seen  upon  thee  ”  (lx.  2). 

And,  indeed,  in  the  spiritual  light  which  is  sown  for 
the  righteous,  and  the  obscuration  of  the  judgment  of 
the  impure,  this  miracle  is  ever  reproduced. 

The  history  of  Menephtah  is  that  of  a  mean  and 
cowardly  prince.  Dreams  forbade  him  to  share  the 
perils  of  his  army  ;  a  prophecy  induced  him  to  submit 
to  exile,  until  his  firstborn  was  of  age  to  recover  his 
dominions  for  him  ;  and  all  we  know  of  him  is  admirably 


i66 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


suited  to  the  character  represented  in  this  narrative. 
He  will  now  submit  once  more,  and  this  time  every  one 
shall  go;  yet  he  cannot  make  a  frank  concession  :  the 
flocks  and  herds  (most  valuable  after  the  ravages  of 
the  murrain  and  the  hail)  must  remain  as  a  hostage 
for  their  return.  But  Moses  is  inflexible  :  not  a  hoof 
shall  be  left  behind  ;  and  then  the  frenzy  of  a  baffled 
autocrat  breaks  out  into  wild  menaces ;  u  Get  thee 
from  me ;  take  heed  to  thyself ;  see  my  face  no  more  ; 
for  in  the  day  thou  seest  my  face  thou  shalt  die.’'  The 
assent  of  Moses  was  grim  :  the  rupture  was  complete. 
And  when  they  once  more  met,  it  was  the  king  that 
had  changed  his  purpose,  and  on  his  face,  not  that  of 
Moses,  was  the  pallor  of  impending  death. 

In  the  conduct  of  the  prophet,  all  through  these 
stormy  scenes,  we  see  the  difference  between  a  meek 
spirit  and  a  craven  one.  He  was  always  ready  to 
intercede ;  he  never  “  reviles  the  ruler,"  nor  trans¬ 
gresses  the  limits  of  courtesy  toward  his  superior  in 
rank ;  and  yet  he  never  falters,  nor  compromises, 
nor  fails  to  represent  worthily  the  awful  Power  he 
represents. 

In  the  series  of  sharp  contrasts,  all  the  true  dignity 
is  with  the  servant  of  God,  all  the  meanness  and  the 
shame  with  the  proud  king,  who  begins  by  insulting 
him,  goes  on  to  impose  on  him,  and  ends  by  the  most 
ignominious  of  surrenders,  crowned  with  the  most 
abortive  of  treacheries  and  the  most  abject  of  defeats. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


THE  LAST  PLAGUE  ANNOUNCED. 
xi.  i-io. 

HE  eleventh  chapter  is,  strictly  speaking,  a 


X  supplement  to  the  tenth  :  the  first  verses  speak, 
as  if  in  parenthesis,  of  a  revelation  made  before  the 
ninth  plague,  but  held  over  to  be  mentioned  in  con¬ 
nection  with  the  last,  which  it  now  announces ;  and  the 
conversation  with  Pharaoh  is  a  continuation  of  the  same 
in  which  they  mutually  resolved  to  see  each  other’s  face 
no  more.  To  account  for  the  confidence  of  Moses,  we 
are  now  told  that  God  had  revealed  to  him  the  close 
approach  of  the  final  blow,  so  long  foreseen.  In  spite 
of  seeming  delays,  the  hour  of  the  promise  had  arrived  ; 
in  spite  of  his  long  reluctance,  the  king  should  even 
thrust  them  out ;  and  then  the  order  and  discipline 
of  their  retreat  would  exhibit  the  advantages  gained 
by  expectation,  by  promises  ofttimes  disappointed,  but 
always,  like  a  false  alarm  which  tries  the  readiness 
of  a  garrison,  exhibiting  the  weak  points  in  their 
organisation,  and  carrying  their  preparations  farther. 

The  command  given  already  to  the  women  (iii.  22)  is 
now  extended  to  them  all — that  they  should  ask  of  the 
terror-stricken  people  such  portable  things  as,  however 
precious,  poorly  requited  their  generations  of  unpaid  and 
cruel  toil.  (It  has  been  already  shown  that  the  word 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


1 68 


absurdly  rendered  u  borrow  ”  means  to  ask ;  and  is  the 
same  as  when  Sisera  asked  water  and  Jael  gave  him 
milk,  and  when  Solomon  asked  wisdom,  and  did  not 
ask  long  life,  neither  asked  riches,  neither  asked  the  life 
of  his  enemies.)  They  were  now  to  claim  such  wages 
as  they  could  carry  off,  and  thus  the  pride  of  Egypt 
was  presently  dedicated  to  construct  and  beautify  the 
tabernacle  of  Jehovah.  We  read  that  the  people  found 
favour  with  the  Egyptians,  who  were  doubtless  over¬ 
joyed  to  come  to  any  sort  of  terms  with  them ;  “  more¬ 
over  the  man  Moses  was  very  great  in  the  land  of  Egypt, 
in  the  sight  of  Pharaoh's  servants,  and  in  the  sight  of 
the  people."  This  is  no  unbecoming  vaunt :  it  speaks 
only  of  the  high  place  he  held,  as  God's  deputy  and 
herald  ;  and  this  tone  of  keen  appreciation  of  the  rank 
conceded  him,  compared  with  the  utter  absence  of  any 
insistence  upon  any  action  of  his  own,  is  evidence  much 
rather  of  the  authenticity  of  the  work  than  the  reverse. 

By  these  demands  expectation  and  faith  were  intensi¬ 
fied  ;  while  the  tidings  of  such  confidence  on  one  side, 
and  such  tame  submission  on  the  other,  goes  far  to 
explain  the  suspicions  and  the  rage  of  Pharaoh. 

With  this  the  narrative  is  resumed.  Moses  had  said, 
“Thou  shalt  see  my  face  no  more."  Now  he  adds, 
“Thus  saith  Jehovah,  About  midnight"  (but  not  on 
that  same  night,  since  four  days  of  preparation  for  the 
passover  were  yet  to  come)  "  I  will  go  out  into  the 
midst  of  Egypt.”  This,  then,  was  the  meaning  of  his 
ready  consent  to  be  seen  no  more  :  Jehovah  Himself, 
Who  had  dealt  so  dreadfully  with  them  through  other 
hands,  was  now  Himself  to  come.  “And  all  the  firstborn 
of  Egypt  shall  die,"  from  the  firstborn  and  viceroy  of 
the  king  to  the  firstborn  of  the  meanest  of  women,  and 
even  of  the  cattle  in  their  stalls.  (It  is  surely  a  remark- 


xi.  I -io.]  THE  LAST  PLAGUE  ANNOUNCED.  169 

able  coincidence  that  Menephtah’s  heroic  son  did 
actually  sit  upon  his  throne,  that  inscriptions  engraven 
during  his  life  exhibit  his  name  in  the  royal  cartouche, 
but  that  he  perished  early,  and  long  before  his  father.) 
And  the  wail  of  demonstrative  Oriental  agony  should 
be  such  as  never  was  heard  before.  But  the  children 
of  Israel  should  be  distinguished  and  protected  by 
their  God.  And  all  these  courtiers  should  come  and 
bow  down  before  Moses  (who  even  then  has  the  good 
feeling  not  to  include  the  king  himself  in  this  abase¬ 
ment),  and  instead  of  Pharaoh’s  insulting  “Get  thee 
from  me — see  my  face  no  more,”  they  should  pray  him 
saying,  “  Go  hence,  thou  and  thy  people  that  follow 
thee.”  And  remembering  the  abject  entreaties,  the 
infatuated  treacheries,  and  now  this  crowning  insult, 
he  went  out  from  Pharaoh  in  hot  anger.  He  was 
angry  and  sinned  not. 

The  ninth  and  tenth  verses  are  a  kind  of  summary : 
the  appeals  to  Pharaoh  are  all  over,  and  henceforth  we 
shall  find  Moses  preparing  his  own  followers  for  their 
exodus.  “  And  the  Lord  (had)  said  unto  Moses,  Pharaoh 
will  not  hearken  unto  you,  that  My  wonders  may  be 
multiplied  in  the  land  of  Egypt.  And  Moses  and  Aai-on 
did  all  these  wonders  before  Pharaoh ;  and  the  Lord 
made  strong  Pharaoh's  heart,  and  he  did  not  let  the 
children  of  Israel  go  out  of  his  land.” 

In  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  there  comes  just  such  a 
period.  The  record  of  miracle  and  controversy  is  at  an 
end,  and  Jesus  withdraws  into  the  bosom  of  His  inti¬ 
mate  circle.  It  is  scarcely  possible  that  the  evangelist 
was  unconscious  of  the  influence  of  this  passage  when 
he  wrote :  “  But  though  He  had  done  so  many  signs 
before  them,  yet  they  believed  not  on  Him,  that  the 
word  of  Isaiah  the  prophet  might  be  fulfilled  which  he 


170 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


spoke,  Lord,  who  hath  believed  our  report  ?  .  .  .  For 
this  cause  they  could  not  believe,  because  that  Isaiah 
said  again,  He  hath  blinded  their  eyes  and  hardened 
their  heart,  lest  they  should  see  with  their  eyes  and 
perceive  with  their  heart,  and  should  turn,  and  I  should 
heal  them”  (John  xii.  37-40). 

This  is  the  tragedy  of  Egypt  repeated  in  Israel ; 
and  the  fact  that  the  chosen  seed  is  now  the  reprobate 
suffices,  if  any  doubt  remain,  to  prove  that  reprobation 
itself  was  not  caprice,  but  retribution. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


THE  TASSO  VEX, 


xii.  1-28, 


E  have  now  reached  the  birthday  of  the  great 


V  V  Hebrew  nation,  and  with  it  the  first  national 
institution,  the  feast  of  passover,  which  is  also  the  first 
sacrifice  of  directly  Divine  institution,  the  earliest 
precept  of  the  Hebrew  legislation,  and  the  only  one 
given  in  Egypt. 

The  Jews  had  by  this  time  learned  to  feel  that  they 
were  a  nation,  if  it  were  only  through  the  struggle 
between  their  champion  and  the  head  of  the  greatest 
nation  in  the  world.  And  the  first  aspect  in  which  the 
feast  of  passover  presents  itself  is  that  of  a  national 
commemoration. 

This  day  was  to  be  unto  them  the  beginning  of 
months  ;  and  in  the  change  of  their  calendar  to  cele¬ 
brate  their  emancipation,  the  device  was  anticipated  by 
which  France  endeavoured  to  glorify  the  Revolution. 
All  their  reckoning  was  to  look  back  to  this  signal 
event.  “  And  this  day  shall  be  unto  you  for  a 
memorial,  and  ye  shall  keep  it  for  a  feast  unto  the 
Lord ;  throughout  your  generations  ye  shall  keep  it  a 
feast  by  an  ordinance  for  ever"  (xii.  14).  il  It  shall  be 
for  a  sign  unto  thee  upon  thine  hand,  and  for  a  memorial 
between  thine  eyes,  that  the  law  of  the  Lord  may  be 
in  thy  mouth,  for  with  a  strong  hand  hath  the  Lord 


172 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


brought  thee  out  of  Egypt.  Thou  shalt  therefore 
keep  this  ordinance  in  its  season  from  year  to  year” 
(xiii.  9,  io). 

Now  for  the  first  time  we  read  of  (i  the  congregation 
of  Israel  ”  (xii.  3,  6),  which  was  an  assembly  of  the 
people  represented  by  their  elders  (as  may  be  seen  by 
comparing  the  third  verse  with  the  twenty-first)  ;  and 
thus  we  discover  that  the  “heads  of  houses”  have 
been  drawn  into  a  larger  unity.  The  clans  are  knit 
together  into  a  nation. 

Accordingly,  the  feast  might  not  be  celebrated  by 
any  solitary  man.  Companionship  was  vital  to  it. 
At  every  table  one  animal,  complete  and  undissevered, 
should  give  to  the  feast  a  unity  of  sentiment ;  and  as 
many  should  gather  around  as  were  likely  to  leave 
none  of  it  uneaten.  Neither  might  any  of  it  be 
reserved  to  supply  a  hasty  ration  amid  the  confusion 
of  the  predicted  march.  The  feast  was  to  be  one 
complete  event,  whole  and  perfect  as  the  unity  which 
it  expressed.  The  very  notion  of  a  people  is  that  of 
“  community  ”  in  responsibilities,  joys,  and  labours  ; 
and  the  solemn  law  by  virtue  of  which,  at  this  same 
hour,  one  blow  will  fall  upon  all  Egypt,  must  now  be 
accepted  by  Israel.  Therefore  loneliness  at  the  feast  of 
Passover  is  by  the  law,  as  well  as  in  idea,  impossible 
to  any  Jew.  Every  one  can  see  the  connection  between 
this  festival  of  unity  and  another,  of  which  it  is  written, 
“We,  being  many,  are  one  body,  one  loaf,  for  we  are 
all  partakers  of  that  one  loaf.” 

Now,  the  sentiment  of  nationality  may  so  assert 
itself,  like  all  exaggerated  sentiments,  as  to  assail 
others  equally  precious.  In  this  century  we  have  seen 
a  revival  of  the  Spartan  theories  which  sacrificed  the 
family  to  the  state.  Socialism  and  the  phalanstere 


xii.  1-28.] 


THE  TASSO  FEE. 


*73 


have  proposed  to  do  by  public  organisation,  with  the 
force  of  law,  what  natural  instinct  teaches  us  to  leave 
to  domestic  influences.  It  is  therefore  worthy  of 
notice  that,  as  the  chosen  nation  is  carefully  traced 
by  revelation  back  to  a  holy  family,  so  the  national 
festival  did  not  ignore  the  family  tie,  but  consecrated 
it.  The  feast  was  to  be  eaten  “  according  to  their 
fathers'  houses  ”  ;  if  a  family  were  too  small,  it  was  to 
the  "  neighbour  next  unto  his  house  ”  that  each  should 
turn  for  co-operation ;  and  the  patriotic  celebration 
was  to  live  on  from  age  to  age  by  the  instruction 
which  parents  should  carefully  give  their  children  (xii. 
3,  26,  xiii.  8). 

The  first  ordinance  of  the  Jewish  religion  was  a 
domestic  service.  And  this  arrangement  is  divinely 
wise.  Never  was  a  nation  truly  prosperous  or  perma¬ 
nently  strong  which  did  not  cherish  the  sanctities  of 
home.  Ancient  Rome  failed  to  resist  the  barbarians, 
not  because  her  discipline  had  degenerated,  but  because 
evil  habits  in  the  home  had  ruined  her  population. 
The  same  is  notoriously  true  of  at  least  one  great 
nation  to-day.  History  is  the  sieve  of  God,  in  which 
He  continually  severs  the  chaff  from  the  grain  of 
nations,  preserving  what  is  temperate  and  pure  and 
calm,  and  therefore  valorous  and  wise. 

In  studying  the  institution  of  the  Passover,  with  its 
profound  typical  analogies,  we  must  not  overlook  the 
simple  and  obvious  fact  that  God  built  His  nation  upon 
families,  and  bade  their  great  national  institution  draw 
the  members  of  each  home  together. 

The  national  character  of  the  feast  is  shown  further 
because  no  Egyptian  family  escaped  the  blow.  Oppor¬ 
tunities  had  been  given  to  them  to  evade  some  of  the 
previous  plagues.  When  the  hail  was  announced,  "  he 


*74 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


that  feared  the  word  of  the  Lord  among  the  servants 
of  Pharaoh  made  his  servants  and  his  cattle  flee  into 
the  house”;  and  this  renders  the  national  solidarity, 
the  partnership  even  of  the  innocent  in  the  penalties 
of  a  people's  guilt,  the  1  community  ’  of  a  nation,  more 
apparent  now.  There  was  not  a  house  where  there 
was  not  one  dead.  The  mixed  multitude  which  came 
up  with  Israel  came  not  because  they  had  shared  his 
exemptions,  but  because  they  dared  not  stay.  It  was 
an  object-lesson  given  to  Israel,  which  might  have 
warned  all  his  generations. 

And  if  there  is  hideous  vice  in  our  own  land  to-day, 
or  if  the  contrasts  of  poverty  and  wealth  are  so  extreme 
that  humanity  is  shocked  by  so  much  luxury  insulting 
so  much  squalor, — if  in  any  respect  we  feel  that  our 
own  land,  considering  its  supreme  advantages,  merits 
the  wrath  of  God  for  its  unworthiness, — then  we  have 
to  fear  and  strive,  not  through  public  spirit  alone,  but 
as  knowing  that  the  chastisement  of  nations  falls  upon 
the  corporate  whole,  upon  us  and  upon  our  children. 

But  if  the  feast  of  the  Passover  wras  a  commemora¬ 
tion,  it  also  claims  to  be  a  sacrifice,  and  the  first  sacrifice 
which  was  Divinely  founded  and  directed. 

This  brings  us  face  to  face  with  the  great  question, 
What  is  the  doctrine  which  lies  at  the  heart  of  the 
great  institution  of  sacrifice  ? 

We  are  not  free  to  confine  its  meaning  altogether  to 
that  which  was  visible  at  the  time.  This  would  contra¬ 
dict  the  whole  doctrine  of  development,  the  intention  of 
God  that  Christianity  should  blossom  from  the  bud  of 
Judaism,  and  the  explicit  assertion  that  the  prophets 
were  made  aware  that  the  full  meaning  and  the  date 
of  what  they  uttered  was  reserved  for  the  instruction  of 
a  later  period  (i  Peter  i.  12). 


xii.  1-2S.] 


THE  PASSOVER. 


175 


But  neither  may  we  overlook  the  first  palpable 
significance  of  any  institution.  Sacrifices  never  could 
have  been  devised  to  be  a  blind  and  empty  pantomime 
to  whole  generations,  for  the  benefit  of  their  successors. 
Still  less  can  one  who  believes  in  a  genuine  revelation 
to  Moses  suppose  that  their  primary  meaning  was  a 
false  one,  given  in  order  that  some  truth  might  after¬ 
wards  develop  out  of  it. 

What,  then,  might  a  pious  and  well-instructed  Israelite 
discern  beneath  the  surface  of  this  institution  ? 

To  this  question  there  have  been  many  discordant 
answers,  and  the  variance  is  by  no  means  confined  to 
unbelieving  critics.  Thus,  a  distinguished  living  ex¬ 
positor  says  in  connection  with  the  Paschal  institution, 
“  We  speak  not  of  blood  as  it  is  commonly  understood, 
but  of  blood  as  the  life,  the  love,  the  heart, — the  whole 
quality  of  Deity.”  But  it  must  be  answered  that  Deity 
is  the  last  suggestion  which  blood  would  convey  to  a 
Jewish  mind :  distinctly  it  is  creature-life  that  it  ex¬ 
presses;  and  the  New  Testament  commentators  make 
it  plain  that  no  other  notion  had  even  then  evolved 
itself :  they  think  of  the  offering  of  the  Body  of  Jesus 
Christ,  not  of  His  Deity.*  Neither  of  this  feast,  nor  of 
that  which  the  gospel  of  Jesus  has  evolved  from  it,  can 
we  find  the  solution  by  forgetting  that  the  elements  of 
the  problem  are,  not  deity,  but  a  Body  and  Blood. 

But  when  we  approach  the  theories  of  rationalistic 
thinkers,  we  find  a  perfect  chaos  of  rival  speculations. 

We  are  told  that  the  Hebrew  feasts  were  really 
agricultural — 11  Harvest  festivals,”  and  that  the  epithet 
Passover  had  its  origin  in  the  passage  of  the  sun  into 
Aries.  But  this  great  festival  had  a  very  secondary 


*  Though  of  course  the  Person  Whose  Body  was  thus  offered  13 
Divine  (Acts  xx.  28),  and  this  gives  inestimable  value  to  the  offering. 


176 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


and  subordinate  connection  with  harvest  (only  the 
waving  of  a  sheaf  upon  the  second  day)  while  the  older 
calendar  which  was  displaced  to  do  it  honour  was 
truly  agricultural,  as  may  still  be  seen  by  the  phrase, 
“  The  feast  of  ingathering  at  the  end  of  the  year,  when 
thou  gatherest  in  thy  labours  out  of  the  field”  (Exod. 
xxiii.  16). 

In  dealing  with  unbelief  we  must  look  at  things  from 
the  unbelieving  angle  of  vision.  No  sceptical  theory 
has  any  right  to  invoke  for  its  help  a  special  and 
differentiating  quality  in  Hebrew  thought.  Reject  the 
supernatural,  and  the  Jewish  religion  is  only  one 
among  a  number  of  similar  creations  of  the  mind  of 
man  “  moving  about  in  worlds  unrecognised.”  And 
therefore  we  must  ask,  What  notions  of  sacrifice  were 
entertained,  all  around,  when  the  Hebrew  creed  was 
forming  itself? 

Now,  we  read  that  “in  the  early  days  ...  a  sacrifice 
was  a  meal.  .  .  .  Year  after  year,  the  return  of  vintage, 
corn-harvest,  and  sheep-shearing  brought  together 
the  members  of  the  household  to  eat  and  drink  in 
the  presence  of  Jehovah.  .  .  .  When  an  honoured 
guest  arrives  there  is  slaughtered  for  him  a  calf,  not 
without  an  offering  of  the  blood  and  fat  to  the  Deity” 
(Wellhausen,  Israel,  p.  76).  Of  the  sense  of  sin  and 
propitiation  “the  ancient  sacrifices  present  few  traces. 
.  .  .  An  underlying  reference  of  sacrifice  to  sin, 
speaking  generally,  was  entirely  absent.  The  ancient 
sacrifices  were  wholly  of  a  joyous  nature — a  merry¬ 
making  before  Jehovah  with  music”  (ibid.,  p.  3i). 

We  are  at  once  confronted  by  the  question,  Where 
did  the  Jewish  nation  come  by  such  a  friendly  concep¬ 
tion  of  their  deity  ?  They  had  come  out  of  Egypt, 
where  human  sacrifices  were  not  rare.  They  had 


xii.  1-28.] 


THE  TASSO  FEE. 


177 


settled  in  Palestine,  where  such  idyllic  notions  must 
have  been  as  strange  as  in  modern  Ashantee.  And  we 
are  told  that  human  sacrifices  (such  as  that  of  Isaac 
and  of  Jephthah’s  daughter)  belong  to  this  older  period 
(p.  69).  Are  they  joyous  and  festive  ?  are  they  not  an 
endeavour,  by  the  offering  up  of  something  precious, 
to  reconcile  a  Being  Who  is  estranged  ?  With  our 
knowledge  of  what  existed  in  Israel  in  the  period  con¬ 
fessed  to  be  historical,  and  of  the  meaning  of  sacrifices 
all  around  in  the  period  supposed  to  be  mythical,  and 
with  the  admission  that  human  sacrifices  must  be  taken 
into  account,  it  is  startling  to  be  asked  to  believe  that 
Hebrew  sacrifices,  with  all  their  solemn  import  and 
all  their  freight  of  Christian  symbolism,  were  originally 
no  more  than  a  gift  to  the  Deity  of  a  part  of  some 
happy  banquet. 

It  is  quite  plain  that  no  such  theory  can  be  reconciled 
with  the  story  of  the  first  passover.  And  accordingly 
this  is  declared  to  be  non-historical,  and  to  have  origi¬ 
nated  in  the  time  of  the  later  kings.  The  offering  of 
the  firstborn  is  only  “  the  expression  of  thankfulness 
to  the  Deity  for  fruitful  flocks  and  herds.  If  claim  is 
also  laid  to  the  human  firstborn,  this  is  merely  a  later 
generalisation  ”  (Wellhausen,  p.  88).* 

But  this  claim  is  by  no  means  the  only  stumbling- 
block  in  the  way  of  the  theory,  serious  a  stumbling- 


*  Here  the  sceptical  theorists  are  widely  divided  among  them¬ 
selves.  Kuenen  has  discussed  this  whole  theory,  and  rejected  it  as 
“irreconcilable  with  what  the  Old  Testament  itself  asserts  in  justi¬ 
fication  of  this  sacrifice.”  And  he  is  driven  to  connect  it  with  the 
notion  of  atonement.  “  Jahveh  appears  as  a  severe  being  who  must  be 
propitiated  with  sacrifices.”  He  has  therefore  to  introduce  the  notion 
of  human  sacrifice,  in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  connection  with  the  penal 
death  of  the  Egyptians,  and  of  the  miraculous,  which  this  example 
would  establish.  (. Religion  of  Israel,  Eng.  Trans.,  i.,  239,  240.) 

12 


i7S 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


block  though  it  be.  IIow  came  the  bright  festival  to 
be  spoiled  by  bitter  herbs  and  (l  bread  of  affliction  ”  ? 
Is  it  natural  that  a  merry  feast  should  grow  more 
austere  as  time  elapses  ?  Do  we  not  find  it  hard 
enough  to  prevent  the  most  sacred  festivals  from 
reversing  the  supposed  process,  and  degenerating  into 
revels  ?  And  is  not  this  the  universal  experience,  from 
San  Francisco  to  Bombay  ?  Why  was'  the  mandate 
given  to  sprinkle  the  door  of  every  house  with  blood, 
if  the  story  originated  after  the  feast  had  been  central¬ 
ised  in  Jerusalem,  wThen,  in  fact,  this  precept  had  to 
be  set  aside  as  impracticable,  their  homes  being  at 
a  distance  ?  Why,  again,  were  they  bidden  to 
slaughter  the  lamb  “  between  the  two  evenings  ”  (Exod. 
xii.  6) — that  is  to  say,  between  sunset  and  the  fading 
out  of  the  light — unless  the  story  veas  written  long 
before  such  numbers  had  to  be  dealt  with  that  the 
priests  began  to  slaughter  early  in  the  afternoon,  and 
continued  until  night  ?  Why  did  the  narrative  set 
forth  that  every  man  might  slaughter  for  his  own 
house  (a  custom  which  still  existed  in  the  time  of 
Hezekiah,  when  the  Levites  only  slaughtered  11  the 
passovers  ”  for  those  who  were  not  ceremonially  clean. 
2  Chron.  xxx.  17),  if  there  were  no  stout  and  strong 
historical  foundation  for  the  older  method  ? 

Stranger  still,  why  was  the  original  command  in¬ 
vented,  that  the  lamb  should  be  chosen  and  separated 
four  days  before  the  feast  ?  There  is  no  trace  of  any 
intention  that  this  precept  should  apply  to  the  first 
passover  alone.  It  is  somewhat  unexpected  there, 
interrupting  the  hurry  and  movement  of  the  narrative 
with  an  interval  of  quiet  expectation,  not  otherwise 
hinted  at,  which  we  comprehend  and  value  when 
discovered,  rather  than  anticipate  in  advance.  It  is 


xii.  1-28.] 


THE  TASSO  FEE. 


179 


the  very  last  circumstance  which  the  Priestly  Code 
would  have  invented,  when  the  time  which  could  be 
conveniently  spent  upon  a  pilgrimage  was  too  brief 
to  suffer  the  custom  to  be  perpetuated.  The  selection 
of  the  lamb  upon  the  tenth  day,  the  slaying  of  it  at 
home,  the  striking  of  the  blood  upon  the  door,  and  the 
use  of  hyssop,  as  in  other  sacrifices,  with  which  to 
sprinkle  it,  whether  upon  door  or  altar;  the  eating  of 
the  feast  standing,  with  staff  in  hand  and  girded  loins ; 
the  application  only  to  one  day  of  the  precept  to  eat 
no  leavened  bread,  and  the  sharing  in  the  feast  by  all, 
without  regard  to  ceremonial  defilement, — all  these 
are  cardinal  differences  between  the  first  passover  and 
later  ones.  Can  we  be  blind  to  their  significance  ? 
Even  a  drastic  revision  of  the  story,  such  as  some  have 
fancied,  would  certainly  have  expunged  every  diver¬ 
gence  upon  points  so  capital  as  these.  Nor  could  any 
evidence  of  the  antiquity  of  the  institution  be  clearer 
than  its  existence  in  a  form,  the  details  of  which  have 
had  to  be  so  boldly  modified  under  the  pressure  of  the 
exigencies  of  the  later  time. 

Taking,  then,  the  narrative  as  it  stands,  we  place 
ourselves  by  an  effort  of  the  historical  imagination 
among  those  to  whom  Moses  gave  his  instructions, 
and  ask  what  emotions  are  excited  as  we  listen. 

Certainly  no  light  and  joyous  feeling  that  we  are 
going  to  celebrate  a  feast,  and  share  our  good  things  with 
our  deity.  Nay,  but  an  alarmed  surprise.  Hitherto, 
among  the  admonitory  and  preliminary  plagues  of 
Egypt,  Israel  had  enjoyed  a  painless  and  unbought 
exemption.  The  murrain  had  not  slain  their  cattle, 
nor  the  locusts  devoured  their  land,  nor  the  darkness 
obscured  their  dwellings.  Such  admonitions  they 
needed  not.  But  now  the  judgment  itself  is  im- 


i8o 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


pending,  and  they  learn  that  they,  like  the  Egyptians 
whom  they  have  begun  to  despise,  are  in  danger  from 
the  destroying  angel.  The  first  paschal  feast  was 
eaten  by  no  man  with  a  light  heart.  Each  listened 
for  the  rustling  of  awful  wings,  and  grew  cold,  as 
under  the  eyes  of  the  death  which  was,  even  then, 
scrutinising  his  lintels  and  his  doorposts. 

And  this  would  set  him  thinking  that  even  a  gracious 
God,  Who  had  u  come  down  ”  to  save  him  from  his 
tyrants,  discerned  in  him  grave  reasons  for  displeasure, 
since  his  acceptance,  while  others  died,  was  not  of 
course.  His  own  conscience  would  then  quickly  tell 
him  what  some  at  least  of  those  reasons  were. 

But  he  would  also  learn  that  the  exemption  which  he 
did  not  possess  by  right  (although  a  son  of  Abraham) 
he  might  obtain  through  grace.  The  goodness  of  God 
did  not  pronounce  him  safe,  but  it  pointed  out  to  him 
a  way  of  salvation.  He  would  scarcely  observe,  so 
entirely  was  it  a  matter  of  course,  that  this  way  must 
be  of  God’s  appointment  and  not  of  his  own  invention 
— that  if  he  devised  much  more  costly,  elaborate  and 
imposing  ceremonies  to  replace  those  which  Moses 
taught  him,  he  would  perish  like  any  Egyptian  who 
devised  nothing,  but  simply  cowered  under  the  shadow 
of  the  impending  doom. 

Nor  was  the  salvation  without  price.  It  was  not 
a  prayer  nor  a  fast  which  bought  it,  but  a  life.  The 
conviction  that  a  redemption  was  necessary  if  God 
should  be  at  once  just  and  a  justifier  of  the  ungodly 
sprang  neither  from  a  later  hairsplitting  logic,  nor  from 
a  methodising  theological  science ;  it  really  lay  upon 
the  very  surface  of  this  and  every  offering  for  sin, 
as  distinguished  from  those  offerings  which  expressed 
the  gratitude  of  the  accepted. 


xii.  I-2S.] 


THE  PASSOVER. 


1S1 


We  have  not  far  to  search  for  evidence  that  the 
lamb  was  really  regarded  as  a  substitute  and  ransom. 
The  assertion  is  part  and  parcel  of  the  narrative  itself. 
For,  in  commemoration  of  this  deliverance,  every  first¬ 
born  of  Israel,  whether  of  man  or  beast,  was  set  apart 
unto  the  Lord.  The  words  are,  “Thou  shall  cause  to 
pass  over  unto  the  Lord  all  that  openeth  the  womb,  and 
every  firstling  which  thou  hast  that  cometh  of  a  beast ; 
the  males  shall  be  the  Lord's”  (xiii.  12).  What,  then, 
should  be  done  with  the  firstborn  of  a  creature  unfit 
for  sacrifice  ?  It  should  be  replaced  by  a  clean  offering, 
and  then  it  was  said  to  be  redeemed.  Substitution 
or  death  was  the  inexorable  rule.  “  Every  firstborn  of 
an  ass  thou  shalt  redeem  with  a  lamb,  and  if  thou 
wilt  not  redeem  it,  then  thou  shalt  break  its  neck.” 
The  meaning  of  this  injunction  is  unmistakable.  But 
it  applies  also  to  man :  “  All  thy  firstborn  of  man 
among  thy  sons  thou  shalt  redeem.”  And  when  their 
sons  should  ask  “  What  meaneth  this  ?  ”  they  were  to 
explain  that  when  Pharaoh  hardened  himself  against 
letting  them  go  from  Egypt,  “  the  Lord  slew  all  the 
firstborn  in  the  land  ;  .  .  .  therefore  I  sacrifice  to  the 
Lord  all  that  openeth  the  womb  being  males ;  but  all 
the  firstborn  of  my  sons  I  redeem  ”  (xiii.  12-15). 

Words  could  not  more  plainly  assert  that  the  lives 
of  the  firstborn  of  Israel  were  forfeited,  that  they 
were  bought  back  by  the  substitution  of  another  crea¬ 
ture,  which  died  instead,  and  that  the  transaction 
answered  to  the  Passover  (“  thou  shalt  cause  to 
pass  over  unto  the  Lord”).  Presently  the  tribe  of 
Levi  was  taken  “instead  of  all  the  firstborn  of  the 
children  of  Israel.”  But  since  there  were  two  hundred 
and  seventy-three  of  such  firstborn  children  over  and 
above  the  number  of  the  Levites,  it  became  necessary 


1 82  THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


to  “  redeem  ”  these  ;  and  this  was  actually  done  by 
a  cash  payment  of  five  shekels  apiece.  Of  this 
payment  the  same  phrase  is  used :  it  is  “  redemption- 
money  ” — the  money  wherewith  the  odd  number  of 
them  is  redeemed  (Num.  iii.  44-51). 

The  question  at  present  is  not  whether  modern 
taste  approves  of  all  this,  or  resents  it :  we  are  simply 
inquiring  whether  an  ancient  Jew  was  taught  to  think 
of  the  lamb  as  offered  in  his  stead. 

And  now  let  it  be  observed  that  this  idea  has  sunk 
deep  into  all  the  literature  of  Palestine.  The  Jews  are 
not  so  much  the  beloved  of  Jehovah  as  His  redeemed 
— “Thy  people  whom  Thou  hast  redeemed”  (1  Chron. 
xvii.  21).  In  fresh  troubles  the  prayer  is,  “Redeem 
Israel,  O  Lord  ”  (Ps.  xxv.  22),  and  the  same  word  is 
often  used  where  we  have  ignored  the  allusion  and 
rendered  it  “  Deliver  me  because  of  mine  enemies  .  .  . 
deliver  me  from  the  oppression  of  men  ”  (Ps.  lxix.  18, 
cxix.  134).  And  the  future  troubles  are  to  end  in  a 
deliverance  of  the  same  kind :  “  The  ransomed  of  the 
Lord  shall  return  and  come  with  singing  unto  Zion  ” 
(Isa.  xxxv.  10,  li.  11);  and  at  the  last  “  I  will  ransom 
them  from  the  power  of  the  grave”  (Hos.  xiii.  14). 
In  all  these  places,  the  word  is  the  same  as  in  this 
narrative. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  if  modern  theology 
were  not  affected  by  this  ancient  problem,  if  we  re¬ 
garded  the  creed  of  the  Hebrews  simply  as  we  look 
at  the  mythologies  of  other  peoples,  there  would  be  no 
more  doubt  that  the  early  Jews  believed  in  propitiatory 
sacrifice  than  that  Phoenicians  did.  We  should  simply 
admire  the  purity,  the  absence  of  cruel  and  degrading 
accessories,  with  which  this  most  perilous  and  yet 
humbling  and  admonitory  doctrine  was  held  in  Israel. 


xii.  1-28.] 


THE  TASSO  VEX. 


183 


The  Christian  applications  of  this  doctrine  must  be 
considered  along  with  the  whole  question  of  the  typical 
character  of  the  history.  But  it  is  not  now  premature 
to  add,  that  even  in  the  Old  Testament  there  is  abun¬ 
dant  evidence  that  the  types  were  semi-transparent, 
and  behind  them  something  greater  was  discerned,  so 
that  after  it  was  written  "  Bring  no  more  vain  obla¬ 
tions/'  Isaiah  could  exclaim,  “  The  Lord  hath  laid  on 
Him  the  iniquity  of  us  all.  He  was  led  as  a  lamb  to 
the  slaughter.  When  Thou  shalt  make  His  soul  a 
trespass-offering  He  shall  see  His  seed"  (Isa.  i.  13, 
liii.  6,  7,  10).  And  the  full  power  of  this  last  verse 
will  only  be  felt  when  we  remember  the  statement 
made  elsewhere  of  the  principle  which  underlay  the 
sacrifices  :  “  the  life  ( or  soul)  of  the  flesh  is  in  the 
blood,  and  I  have  given  it  to  you  upon  the  altar  to 
make  atonement  for  your  souls  ;  for  it  is  the  blood  that 
maketh  atonement  by  reason  of  the  life  "  (or  11  soul  ” — • 
Lev.  xvii.  11,  R.V.)  It  is  even  startling  to  read  the 
two  verses  together :  11  Thou  shalt  make  His  soul  a 
trespass-offering ;  "  il  The  blood  maketh  atonement 
by  reason  of  the  soul  .  .  .  the  soul  of  the  flesh  is 
in  the  blood."* 

It  is  still  more  impressive  to  remember  that  a  Servant 
of  Jehovah  has  actually  arisen  in  WLom  this  doctrine 
has  assumed  a  form  acceptable  to  the  best  and  holiest 
intellects  and  consciences  of  ages  and  civilisations 
widely  remote  from  that  in  which  it  was  conceived. 


*  The  astonishing  significance  of  this  declaration  would  only  be 
deepened  if  we  accepted  the  theories  now  so  fashionable,  and  believed 
that  the  later  passage  in  Isaiah  was  the  fruit  of  a  period  when  the 
full-blown  Priestly  Code  was  in  process  of  development  out  of  “  the 
small  body  of  legislation  contained  in  Lev.  xvii. — xxvi.”  What  a 
jtrange  time  for  such  a  spiritual  application  of  sacrificial  language  ! 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


1S4 


Another  doctrine  preached  by  the  passover  to  every 
Jew  was  that  he  must  be  a  worker  together  with  God, 
must  himself  use  what  the  Lord  pointed  out,  and  his 
own  lintels  and  doorposts  must  openly  exhibit  the 
fact  that  he  laid  claim  to  the  benefit  of  the  institution 
of  the  Lord  Jehovah’s  passover.  With  what  strange 
feelings,  upon  the  morrow,  did  the  orphaned  people 
of  Egypt  discover  the  stain  of  blood  on  the  forsaken 
houses  of  all  their  emancipated  slaves  ! 

The  lamb  having  been  offered  up  to  God,  a  new 
stage  in  the  symbolism  is  entered  upon.  The  body 
of  the  sacrifice,  as  well  as  the  blood,  is  His  :  “  Ye 
shall  eat  it  in  haste,  it  is  the  Lord’s  passover  ” 
(ver.  11).  Instead  of  being  a  feast  of  theirs,  which 
they  share  with  Him,  it  is  an  offering  of  which, 
when  the  blood  has  been  sprinkled  on  the  doors,  He 
permits  His  people,  now  accepted  and  favoured,  to 
partake.  They  are  His  guests  ;  and  therefore  He  pre¬ 
scribes  all  the  manner  of  their  eating,  the  attitude  so 
expressive  of  haste,  and  the  unleavened  “  bread  of 
affliction”  and  bitter  herbs,  which  told  that  the  object 
of  this  feast  was  not  the  indulgence  of  the  flesh 
but  the  edification  of  the  spirit,  “  a  feast  unto  the 
Lord.” 

And  in  the  strength  of  this  meat  they  are  launched 
upon  their  new  career,  freemen,  pilgrims  of  God,  from 
Egyptian  bondage  to  a  Promised  Land. 

It  is  now  time  to  examine  the  chapter  in  more 
detail,  and  gather  up  such  points  as  the  preceding 
discussion  has  not  reached. 

(Ver.  1.)  The  opening  words,  “ Jehovah  spake  unto 
Moses  and  Aaron  in  the  land  of  Egypt,”  have  all  the 
appearance  of  opening  a  separate  document,  and 
suggest,  with  certain  other  evidence,  the  notion  of  a 


xii.  1-28.] 


THE  TASSO  FEE. 


185 


fragment  written  very  shortly  after  the  event,  and 
afterwards  incorporated  into  the  present  narrative. 
And  they  are,  in  the  same  degree,  favourable  to  the 
authenticity  of  the  book. 

(Ver.  2.)  The  commandment  to  link  their  emanci¬ 
pation  with  a  festival,  and  with  the  calendar,  is  the 
earliest  example  and  the  sufficient  vindication  of  sacred 
festivals,  which,  even  yet,  some  persons  consider  to  be 
superstitious  and  judaical.  But  it  is  a  strange  doctrine 
that  the  Passover  deserved  honour  better  than  Easter 
does,  or  that  there  is  anything  more  servile  and 
unchristian  in  celebrating  the  birth  of  all  the  hopes 
of  all  mankind  than  in  commemorating  one’s  own 
birth. 

(Ver.  5.)  The  selection  ot  a  lamb  for  a  sacrifice 
so  quickly  became  universal,  that  there  is  no  trace 
anywhere  of  the  use  of  a  kid  in  place  of  it.  The  alter¬ 
native  is  therefore  an  indication  of  antiquity,  while 
the  qualities  required — innocent  youth  and  the  absence 
of  blemish,  were  sure  to  suggest  a  typical  significance. 
For,  if  they  were  merely  to  enhance  its  value,  why  not 
choose  a  costlier  animal  ? 

Various  meanings  have  been  discovered  in  the  four 
days  during  which  it  was  reserved ;  but  perhaps  the 
true  object  was  to  give  time  for  deliberation,  for  the 
solemnity  and  import  of  the  institution  to  fill  the  minds 
of  the  people  ;  time  also  for  preparation,  since  the  night 
itself  was  one  of  extreme  haste,  and  prompt  action  can 
only  be  obtained  by  leisurely  anticipation.  We  have 
Scriptural  authority  for  applying  it  to  the  Antitype, 
Who  also  was  foredoomed,  “  the  Lamb  slain  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world”  (Rev.  xiii.  8). 

But  now  it  has  to  be  observed  that  throughout  the 
poetic  literature  the  people  is  taught  to  think  of  itself 


1 86 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


as  a  flock  of  sheep.  “Thou  leddest  Thy  people  like 
a  flock  by  the  hand  of  Moses  and  Aaron  ”  (Ps.  Ixxvii. 
20) ;  “  We  are  Thy  people  and  the  sheep  of  Thy 

pasture”  (Ps.  Ixxix.  13);  “All  we  like  sheep  have  gone 
astray”  (Isa.  liii.  6);  “Ye,  O  My  sheep,  the  sheep  of 
My  pasture,  are  men”  (Ezek.  xxxiv.  31);  “The  Lord 
of  hosts  hath  visited  His  flock  ”  (Zech.  x.  3).  All 
such  language  would  make  more  easy  the  conception 
that  what  replaced  the  forfeited  life  was  in  some  sense, 
figuratively,  in  the  religious  idea,  a  kindred  victim. 
One  who  offered  a  lamb  as  his  substitute  sang  “The 
Lord  is  my  shepherd.”  “  I  have  gone  astray  like  a 
lost  sheep”  (Ps.  xxiii.  I,  cxix.  176). 

(Ver.  3,  6.)  Very  instructive  it  is  that  this  first 
sacrifice  of  Judaism  could  be  offered  by  all  the  heads 
of  houses.  We  have  seen  that  the  Levites  were 
presently  put  into  the  place  of  the  eldest  son,  but 
also  that  this  function  was  exercised  down  to  the 
time  of  Hezekiah  by  all  who  were  ceremonially  clean, 
whereas  the  opposite  holds  good,  immediately  after¬ 
wards,  in  the  great  passover  of  Josiah  (2  Chron. 
xxx.  17,  xxxv.  Ii). 

It  is  impossible  that  this  incongruity  could  be  de¬ 
vised,  for  the  sake  of  plausibility,  in  a  narrative  which 
rested  on  no  solid  basis.  It  goes  far  to  establish  what 
has  been  so  anxiously  denied — the  reality  of  the  cen¬ 
tralised  worship  in  the  time  of  Hezekiah.  And  it  also 
establishes  the  great  doctrine  that  priesthood  was  held 
not  by  a  superior  caste,  but  on  behalf  of  the  whole 
nation,  in  whom  it  was  theoretically  vested,  and  for 
whom  the  priest  acted,  so  that  they  were  “  a  nation  of 
priests.” 

(Ver.  8.)  The  use  of  unleavened  bread  is  distinctly 
said  to  be  in  commemoration  of  their  haste — “  for  thou 


xii.  1-28.] 


THE  PASSOVER. 


1 87 


earnest  out  of  Egypt  in  haste  ”  (Deut.  xvi.  3) — but  it 
does  not  follow  that  they  were  forced  by  haste  to 
eat  their  bread  unleavened  at  the  first.  It  was  quite 
as  easy  to  prepare  leavened  bread  as  to  provide  the 
paschal  lamb  four  days  previously. 

We  may  therefore  seek  for  some  further  explanation, 
and  this  we  find  in  the  same  verse  in  Deuteronomy, 
in  the  expression  “  bread  of  affliction.”  They  were  to 
receive  the  meat  of  passover  with  a  reproachful  sense 
of  their  unworthiness  :  humbly,  with  bread  of  affliction 
and  with  bitter  herbs. 

Moreover,  we  learn  from  St.  Paul  that  unleavened 
bread  represents  simplicity  and  truth ;  and  our  Lord 
spoke  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees  and  of  Herod 
(Mark  viii.  15).  And  this  is  not  only  because  leaven 
was  supposed  to  be  of  the  same  nature  as  corruption. 
We  ourselves  always  mean  something  unworthy  when 
we  speak  of  mixed  motives,  possible  though  it  be  to  act 
from  two  motives,  both  of  them  high-minded.  Now, 
leaven  represents  mixture  in  its  most  subtle  and 
penetrating  form. 

The  paschal  feast  did  not  express  any  such  luxuri¬ 
ous  and  sentimental  religionism  as  finds  in  the  story 
of  the  cross  an  easy  joy,  or  even  a  delicate  and 
pleasing  stimulus  for  the  softer  emotions,  “a  very 
lovely  song  of  one  that  hath  a  pleasant  voice,  and 
playeth  well  on  an  instrument.”  No,  it  has  vigour 
and  nourishment  for  those  who  truly  hunger,  but  its 
bread  is  unfermented,  and  it  must  be  eaten  with 
bitter  herbs. 

(Ver.  9.)  Many  Jewish  sacrifices  were  “  sodden,”  but 
this  had  to  be  roast  with  fire.  It  may  have  been  to  repre¬ 
sent  suffering  that  this  was  enjoined.  But  it  comes  to 
us  along  with  a  command  to  consume  all  the  flesh, 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


1 88 


reserving  none  and  rejecting  none.  Now,  though  boil¬ 
ing  does  not  mutilate,  it  dissipates ;  a  certain  amount 
of  tissue  is  lost,  more  is  relaxed,  and  its  cohesion 
rendered  feeble ;  and  so  the  duty  of  its  complete 
reception  is  accentuated  by  the  words  “  not  sodden  at 
all  with  water.”  Nor  should  it  be  a  barbarous  feast, 
such  as  many  idolatries  encouraged :  true  religion 
civilises ;  “  eat  not  of  it  at  all  raw.” 

(Ver.  io.)  Nor  should  any  of  it  be  left  until  the 
morning.  At  the  first  celebration,  with  a  hasty  exodus 
impending,  this  would  have  involved  exposure  to  pro¬ 
fanation.  In  later  times  it  might  have  involved  super¬ 
stitious  abuses.  And  therefore  the  same  rule  is  laid 
down  which  the  Church  of  England  has  carried  on  for 
the  same  reasons  into  the  Communion  feast — that  all 
must  be  consumed.  Nor  can  we  fail  to  see  an  ideal 
fitness  in  the  precept.  Of  the  gift  of  God  we  may  not 
select  what  gratifies  our  taste  or  commends  itself  to 
our  desires ;  all  is  good ;  all  must  be  accepted ;  a 
partial  reception  of  His  grace  is  no  valid  reception 
at  all. 

(Ver.  12.)  In  describing  the  coming  wrath,  we  under¬ 
stand  the  inclusion  equally  of  innocent  and  guilty  men, 
because  it  is  thus  that  all  national  vengeance  operates  ; 
and  we  receive  the  benefits  of  corporate  life  at  the 
cost,  often  heavy,  of  its  penalties.  The  animal  world 
also  has  to  suffer  with  us ;  the  whole  creation  groaneth 
together  now,  and  all  expects  together  the  benefit 
of  our  adoption  hereafter.  But  what  were  the  judg¬ 
ments  against  the  idols  of  Egypt,  which  this  verse 
predicts,  and  another  (Num.  xxxiii.  4)  declares  to  be 
accomplished  ?  They  doubtless  consisted  chiefly  in 
the  destruction  of  sacred  animals,  from  the  beetle  and 
the  frog  to  the  holy  ox  of  Apis — from  the  cat,  the 


xii.  1-28.] 


THE  rASSOVER . 


189 


monkey,  and  the  dog,  to  the  lion,  the  hippopotamus, 
and  the  crocodile.  In  their  overthrow  a  blow  was 
dealt  which  shook  the  whole  system  to  its  foundation  ; 
for  how  could  the  same  confidence  be  felt  in  sacred 
images  when  all  the  sacred  beasts  had  once  been 
slain  by  a  rival  invisible  Spiritual  Being !  And  more 
is  implied  than  that  they  should  share  the  common 
desolation :  the  text  says  plainly,  of  men  and  beasts 
the  firstborn  must  die,  but  all  of  these.  The  difference 
in  the  phrase  is  obvious  and  indisputable  ;  and  in  its 
fulfilment  all  Egypt  saw  the  act  of  a  hostile  and 
victorious  deity. 

(Ver.  13.)  “  And  the  blood  shall  be  to  you  for  a  token 
upon  the  houses  where  ye  are.’'  That  it  was  a  token 
to  the  destroying  angel  we  see  plainly;  but  why  to 
them  ?  Is  it  enough  to  explain  the  assertion,  with  some, 
as  meaning,  upon  their  behalf?  Rather  let  us  say 
that  the  publicity,  the  exhibition  upon  their  doorposts 
of  the  sacrifice  offered  within,  was  not  to  inform  and 
guide  the  angel,  but  to  edify  the  people.  They  should 
perform  an  open  act  of  faith.  Their  houses  should  be 
visibly  set  apart.  u  With  the  mouth  confession "  (of 
faith)  u  is  made  unto  salvation,"  unto  that  deliverance 
from  a  hundred  evasions  and  equivocations,  and  as 
many  inward  doubts  and  hesitations,  which  comes 
when  any  decisive  act  is  done,  when  the  die  is  cast 
and  the  Rubicon  crossed.  A  similar  effect  upon  the 
mind,  calming  and  steadying  it,  was  produced  when 
the  Israelite  carried  out  the  blood  of  the  lamb,  and  by 
sprinkling  it  upon  the  doorpost  formally  claimed  his 
exemption,  and  returned  with  the  consciousness  that 
between  him  and  the  imminent  death  a  visible  barrier 
interposed  itself. 

Will  any  one  deny  that  a  similar  help  is  offered  to 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


190 

rs  of  the  later  Church  in  our  many  opportunities  of 
avowing  a  fixed  and  personal  belief?  Whoever  refuses 
to  comply  with  an  unholy  custom  because  he  belongs 
to  Christ,  whoever  joins  heartily  in  worship  at  the  cost 
of  making  himself  remarkable,  whoever  nerves  himself 
to  kneel  at  the  Holy  Table  although  he  feels  himself 
unworthy,  that  man  has  broken  through  many  snares ; 
he  has  gained  assurance  that  his  choice  of  God  is  a 
reality :  he  has  shown  his  flag ;  and  this  public 
avowal  is  not  only  a  sign  to  others,  but  also  a  token 
to  himself. 

But  this  is  only  half  the  doctrine  of  this  action. 
What  he  should  thus  openly  avow  was  his  trust  (as 
we  have  shown)  in  atoning  blood. 

And  in  the  day  of  our  peril  what  shall  be  our 
reliance  ?  That  our  doors  are  trodden  by  orthodox 
visitants  only  ?  that  the  lintels  are  clean,  and  the 
inhabitants  temperate  and  pure  ?  or  that  the  Blood 
of  Christ  has  cleansed  our  conscience  ? 

Therefore  (ver.  22)  the  blood  was  sprinkled  with 
hyssop,  of  which  the  light  and  elastic  sprays  were 
admirably  suited  for  such  use,  but  which  was  reserved 
in  the  Law  for  those  sacrifices  which  expiated  sin 
(Lev.  xiv.  49;  Num.  xix.  I S,  19).  And  therefore  also 
none  should  go  forth  out  of  his  house  until  the  morning, 
for  we  are  not  to  content  ourselves  with  having  once 
invoked  the  shelter  of  God :  we  are  to  abide  under  its 
protection  while  danger  lasts. 

And  (ver.  23)  upon  the  condition  of  this  marking  of 
their  doorposts  the  Lord  should  pass  over  their  houses. 
1  he  phrase  is  noteworthy,  because  it  recurs  throughout 
the  narrative,  being  employed  nine  times  in  this  chapter; 
and  because  the  same  word  is  found  in  Isaiah,  again  in 
contrast  with  the  ruin  of  others,  and  with  an  interesting 


xii.  1-28.] 


THE  PASSOVER. 


191 


and  beautiful  expansion  of  the  hovering  poised  notion 
which  belongs  to  the  word.* 

Repeated  commandments  are  given  to  parents  to 
teach  the  meaning  of  this  institution  to  their  children, 
(xii.  26,  xiii.  8).  And  there  is  something  almost 
cynical  in  the  notion  of  a  later  mythologist  devising 
this  appeal  to  a  tradition  which  had  no  existence  at 
all ;  enrolling,  in  support  of  his  new  institutions,  the 
testimony  (which  had  never  been  borne)  of  fathers  who 
had  never  taught  any  story  of  the  kind. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  something  idyllic  and 
beautiful  in  the  minute  instruction  given  to  the  heads  of 
families  to  teach  their  children,  and  -In  the  simple  words 
put  into  their  mouths,  “It  is  because  of  that  which  the 
Lord  did  for  me  when  I  came  forth  out  of  Egypt."  It 
carries  us  forward  to  these  weary  days  when  children 
scarcely  see  the  face  of  one  who  goes  out  to  labour 
before  they  are  awake,  and  returns  exhausted  when 
their  day  is  over,  and  who  himself  too  often  needs  the 
most  elementary  instruction,  these  heartless  days  when 
the  teaching  of  religion  devolves,  in  thousands  of 
families,  upon  the  stranger  who  instructs,  for  one  hour 
in  the  week,  a  class  in  Sunday-school.  The  contrast  is 
not  reassuring. 

When  all  these  instructions  were  given  to  Israel, 
the  people  bowTed  their  heads  and  worshipped.  The 
bones  of  most  of  them  were  doomed  to  whiten  in  the 
wilderness.  They  perished  by  serpents  and  by  11  the 


*  So  that  it  is  used  equally  of  the  slow  action  of  the  lame,  and  of 
the  lingering  movements  of  the  false  prophets  when  there  was  none 
to  answer  (2  Sam.  iv.  4;  1  Kings  xviii.  26).  “  The  Lord  of  Hosts  shall 
come  down  to  fight  upon  Mount  Zion.  ...  As  birds  flying,  so  will 
the  Lord  of  Hosts  protect  Jerusalem;  He  will  pass  over  and  preserve 
it  ”  (Isa.  xxxi.  4,  5). 


192 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


destroyer” ;  they  fell  in  one  day  three-and-twenty 
thousand,  because  they  were  discontented  and  re¬ 
bellious  and  unholy.  And  yet  they  could  adore  the 
gracious  Giver  of  promises  and  Slayer  of  foes.  They 
would  not  obey,  but  they  were  quite  ready  to  accept 
benefits,  to  experience  deliverance,  to  become  the 
favourites  of  heaven,  to  march  to  Palestine.  So  are 
too  many  fain  to  be  made  happy,  to  find  peace,  to 
taste  the  good  word  of  God  and  the  powers  of  the 
age  to  come,  to  go  to  heaven.  But  they  will  not  take 
up  a  cross.  They  will  murmur  if  the  well  is  bitter, 
if  they  have  no  flesh  but  only  angels’  food,  if  the 
goodly  land  is  defended  by  powerful  enemies. 

On  these  terms,  they  cannot  be  Christ’s  disciples. 

It  is  apparently  the  mention  of  a  mixed  multitude, 
who  came  with  Israel  out  of  Egypt,  which  suggests 
the  insertion,  in  a  separate  and  dislocated  paragraph, 
of  the  law  of  the  passover  concerning  strangers 
(vers.  38,  43-49). 

An  alien  was  not  to  eat  thereof :  it  belonged 
especially  to  the  covenant  people.  .  But  who  was  a 
stranger  ?  A  slave  should  be  circumcised  and  eat 
thereof;  for  it  was  one  of  the  benignant  provisions  of 
the  law  that  there  should  not  be  added,  to  the  many 
severities  of  his  condition,  any  religious  disabilities. 
The  time  would  come  when  all  nations  should  be 
blessed  in  the  seed  of  Abraham.  In  that  day  the 
poor  would  receive  a  special  beatitude ;  and  in  the 
meantime,  as  the  first  indication  of  catholicity  beneath 
the  surface  of  an  exclusive  ritual,  it  was  announced, 
foremost  among  those  who  should  be  welcomed  within 
the  fold,  that  a  slave  should  be  circumcised  and  eat 
the  passover. 

And  if  a  sojourner  desired  to  eat  thereof,  he  should 


xii.  29  36.] 


THE  TENTH  PLAGUE. 


*93 


be  mindful  of  his  domestic  obligations  :  all  his  males 
should  be  circumcised  along  with  him,  and  then  his 
disabilities  were  at  an  end.  Surely  we  can  see  in  these 
provisions  the  germ  of  the  broader  and  more  generous 
welcome  which  Christ  offers  to  the  world.  Let  it  be 
added  that  this  admission  of  strangers  had  been  already 
implied  at  verse  19;  while  every  form  of  coercion  was 
prohibited  by  the  words  “ a  sojourner  and  a  hired 
servant  shall  not  eat  of  it,”  in  verse  45- 

THE  TENTH  PLAGUE . 
xii.  29-36. 

And  now  the  blow  fell.  Infants  grew  cold  in  their 
mothers’  arms;  ripe  statesmen  and  crafty  priests  lost 
breath  as  they  reposed :  the  wisest,  the  strongest  and 
the  most  hopeful  of  the  nation  were  blotted  out  at 
once,  for  the  firstborn  of  a  population  is  its  flower. 

Pharaoh  Menephtah  had  only  reached  the  throne  by 
the  death  of  two  elder  brethren,  and  therefore  history 
confirms  the  assertion  that  he  u  rose  up,”  when  the 
firstborn  were  dead ;  but  it  also  justifies  the  statement 
that  his  firstborn  died,  for  the  gallant  and  promising 
youth  who  had  reconquered  for  him  his  lost  territories, 
and  who  actually  shared  his  rule  and  “  sat  upon  the 
throne,”  Menephtah  Seti,  is  now  shown  to  have  died 
early,  and  never  to  have  held  an  independent  sceptre. 

We  can  imagine  the  scene.  Suspense  and  terror 
must  have  been  wide  spread ;  for  the  former  plagues 
had  given  authority  to  the  more  dreadful  threat,  the 
fulfilment  of  which  was  now  to  be  expected,  since 
a’l  negotiations  between  Moses  and  Pharaoh  had  been 
formally  broken  off. 

Strange  and  confident  movements  and  doubtless 

13 


194 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


menacing  expressions  among  the  Hebrews  would  also 
make  this  night  a  fearful  one,  and  there  was  little  rest 
for  “  those  who  feared  the  Lord  among  the  servants 
of  Pharaoh.”  These,  knowing  where  the  danger  lay, 
would  watch  their  firstborn  well,  and  when  the  ashy 
change  came  suddenly  upon  a  blooming  face,  and  they 
raised  the  wild  cry  of  Eastern  bereavement,  then  others 
awoke  to  the  same  misery.  From  remote  villages  and 
lonely  hamlets  the  clamour  of  great  populations  was 
echoed  back ;  and  when,  under  midnight  skies  in  which 
the  strong  wind  of  the  morrow  was  already  moaning, 
the  awestruck  people  rushed  into  their  temples,  there 
the  corpses  of  their  animal  deities  glared  at  them  with 
glassy  eyes. 

Thus  the  cup  which  they  had  made  their  slaves  to 
drink  was  put  in  larger  measure  to  their  own  lips  at 
last,  and  not  infants  only  were  snatched  away,  but  sons 
around  whom  years  of  tenderness  had  woven  stronger 
ties  ;  and  the  loss  of  their  bondsmen,  from  which  they 
feared  so  much  national  weakness,  had  to  be  endured 
along  with  a  far  deadlier  drain  cf  their  own  life-blood. 
The  universal  wail  was  bitter,  and  hopeless,  and  full 
of  terror  even  more  than  woe ;  for  they  said,  “  We  be 
all  dead  men.”  Without  the  consolation  of  ministering 
by  sick  beds,  or  the  romance  and  gallant  excitement 
of  war,  “  there  w7as  not  a  house  where  there  was  not 
one  dead,”  and  this  is  said  to  give  sharpness  to  the 
statement  that  there  was  a  great  cry  in  Egypt. 

Then  came  such  a  moment  as  the  Hebrew  tempera¬ 
ment  keenly  enjoyed,  when  “  the  sons  of  them  that 
oppressed  them  came  bending  unto  them,  and  all  they 
that  despised  them  bowed  themselves  down  at  the  soles 
of  their  feet.”  Pharaoh  sent  at  midnight  to  surrender 
everything  that  could  possibly  be  demanded,  and  in 


xii.  37-42.] 


THE  EXODUS. 


195 


his  abject  fear  added,  “  and  bless  me  also  ” ;  and  the 
Egyptians  were  urgent  on  them  to  begone,  and  when 
they  demanded  the  portable  wealth  of  the  land, — a 
poor  ransom  from  a  vanquished  enemy,  and  a  still 
poorer  payment  for  generations  of  forced  labour, — - 
“the  Lord  gave  them  favour”  (is  there  net  a  saturnine 
irony  in  the  phrase  ?)  il  in  the  sight  of  the  Egyptians, 
so  that  they  let  them  have  what  they  asked.  And  they 
spoiled  the  Egyptians.” 

By  this  analogy  St.  Augustine  defended  the  use  of 
heathen  learning  in  defence  of  Christian  truth.  Clogged 
by  superstitions,  he  said,  it  contained  also  libera]  in¬ 
struction,  and  truths  even  concerning  God — “  gold  and 
silver  which  they  did  not  themselves  create,  but  dug 
out  of  the  mines  of  God’s  providence,  and  misapplied. 
These  we  should  reclaim,  and  apply  to  Christian  use” 
( De  Doct.  Clir.j  60,  61). 

And  the  main  lesson  of  the  story  lies  so  plainly 
upon  the  surface  that  one  scarcely  needs  to  state  it. 
What  God  requires  must  ultimately  be  done ;  and 
human  resistance,  however  stubborn  and  protracted, 
will  only  make  the  result  more  painful  and  more 
signal  at  the  last. 

Now,  every  concern  of  our  obscure  daily  lives  comes 
under  this  law  as  surely  as  the  actions  of  a  Pharaoh. 

THE  EXODUS. 
xii.  37-42. 

The  children  of  Israel  journeyed  from  Rameses  to 
Succoth.  Already,  at  the  outset  of  their  journey, 
controversy  has  had  much  to  say  about  their  route. 
Much  ingenuity  has  been  expended  upon  the  theory 
which  brought  their  early  journey  along  the  Mediter- 


196 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


ranean  coast,  and  made  the  overthrow  of  the  Egyptians 
take  place  in  “  that  Serbonian  bog  where  armies  whole 
have  sunk.”  But  it  may  fairly  be  assumed  that  this 
view  was  refuted  even  before  the  recent  identification 
of  the  sites  of  Rameses  and  Pihahiroth  rendered  it 
untenable. 

How  came  these  trampled  slaves,  who  could  not 
call  their  lives  their  own,  to  possess  the  cattle  which 
we  read  of  as  having  escaped  the  murrain,  and  the 
number  of  which  is  here  said  to  have  been  very  great  ? 

Just  before  Moses  returned,  and  when  the  Pharaoh 
of  the  Exodus  appears  upon  the  scene,  we  are  told 
that  “  their  cry  came  up  unto  God,  .  .  .  and  God 
heard  their  groaning,  and  God  remembered  His 
covenant  .  .  .  and  God  saw  the  children  of  Israel, 
and  God  took  knowledge  of  them  ”  (ii.  23). 

May  not  this  verse  point  to  something  unrecorded, 
some  event  before  their  final  deliverance  ?  The  con¬ 
jecture  is  a  happy  one  that  it  refers  to  their  share  in 
the  revolt  of  subject  races  which  drove  Menephtah 
for  twelve  years  out  of  his  northern  territories.  If  so, 
there  was  time  for  a  considerable  return  of  prosperity ; 
and  the  retention  or  forfeiture  of  their  chattels  when 
they  were  reconquered  would  depend  very  greatly 
upon  circumstances  unknown  to  us.  At  all  events, 
this  revolt  is  evidence,  which  is  amply  corroborated 
by  history  and  the  inscriptions,  of  the  existence  of 
just  such  a  discontented  and  servile  element  in  the 
population  as  the  11  mixed  multitude  ”  which  came  out 
with  them  repeatedly  proved  itself  to  be. 

But  here  we  come  upon  a  problem  of  another  kind. 
How  long  was  Israel  in  the  house  of  bondage  ?  Can 
we  rely  upon  the  present  Hebrew  text,  which  says  that 
11  their  sojourning  which  they  sojourned  in  Egypt,  was 


xii.  37-42.] 


THE  EXODUS. 


197 


four  hundred  and  thirty  years.  And  it  came  to  pass  at 
the  end  of  the  four  hundred  and  thirty  years,  even  the 
selfsame  day  it  came  to  pass,  that  all  the  hosts  of  the 
Lord  came  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  ”  (xii.  40,  41). 

Certain  ancient  versions  have  departed  from  this 
text.  The  Septuagint  reads,  “  The  sojourning  of  the 
children  of  Israel  which  they  sojourned  in  Egypt  and 
in  the  land  of  Canaan ,  was  four  hundred  and  thirty 
years  ” ;  and  the  Samaritan  agrees  with  this,  except 
that  it  has  il  the  sojourning  of  the  children  of  Israel 
and  of  their  fathers .”  The  question  is,  which  reading 
is  correct  ?  Must  we  date  the  four  hundred  and 
thirty  years  from  Abraham's  arrival  in  Canaan,  or  from 
Jacob's  descent  into  Egypt? 

For  the  shorter  period  there  are  two  strong  argu¬ 
ments.  The  genealogies  in  the  Pentateuch  range  from 
four  persons  to  six  beween  Jacob  and  the  Exodus, 
which  number  is  quite  unable  to  reach  over  four  cen¬ 
turies.  And  St.  Paul  says  of  the  covenant  with 
Abraham  that  the  law  which  came  four  hundred  and 
thirty  years  after  ”  (i.e.  after  the  time  of  Abraham) 
u  could  not  disannul  it”  (Gal.  iii.  17). 

This  reference  by  St.  Paul  is  not  so  decisive  as  it 
may  appear,  because  he  habitually  quotes  the  Septua¬ 
gint,  even  where  he  must  have  known  that  it  deviates 
from  the  Hebrew,  provided  that  the  deviation  does  not 
compromise  the  matter  in  hand.  Here,  he  was  in 
nowise  concerned  with  the  chronology,  and  had  no 
reason  to  perplex  a  Gentile  church  by  correcting  it. 
But  it  was  a  different  matter  with  St.  Stephen,  arguing 
his  case  before  the  Hebrew  council.  And  he  quotes 
plainly  and  confidently  the  prediction  that  the  seed  of 
Abraham  should  be  four  hundred  years  in  bondage, 
and  that  one  nation  should  entreat  them  evil  four 


198 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


hundred  years  (Acts  vii.  6).  Again,  this  is  the  clear 
intention  of  the  words  in  Genesis  (xv.  13).  And  as  to 
the  genealogies,  we  know  them  to  have  been  cut  down, 
so  that  seven  names  are  omitted  from  that  of  Ezra,  and 
three  at  least  from  that  of  our  Lord  Himself.  Certainly 
when  we  consider  the  great  population  implied  in  an 
army  of  six  hundred  thousand  adult  men,  we  must 
admit  that  the  longer  period  is  inherently  the  more 
probable  of  the  two.  But  we  can  only  assert  with 
confidence  that  just  when  their  deliverance  was  due 
it  was  accomplished,  and  they  who  had  come  down 
a  handful,  and  whom  cruel  oppression  had  striven  to 
decimate,  came  forth,  no  undisciplined  mob,  but  armies 
moving  in  organised  and  regulated  detachments  :  u  the 
Lord  did  bring  the  children  of  Israel  forth  by  their 
hosts”  (ver.  51).  11  And  the  children  of  Israel  went  up 

armed  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  ”  (xiii.  18). 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


THE  LAW  OF  THE  FIRSTBORN. 
xiii.  i. 

MUCH  that  was  said  in  the  twelfth  chapter  is 
repeated  in  the  thirteenth.  And  this  repetition 
is  clearly  due  to  a  formal  rehearsal,  made  when  all 
“  their  hosts  ”  had  mustered  in  Succoth  after  their  first 
march ;  for  Moses  says,  11  Remember  this  day,  in  which 
ye  came  out  ”  (ver.  3).  Already  it  had  been  spoken  of 
as  a  day  much  to  be  remembered,  and  for  its  perpetua¬ 
tion  the  ordinance  of  the  Passover  had  been  founded. 

But  now  this  charge  is  given  as  a  fit  prologue  for  the 
remarkable  institution  which  follows — the  consecration 
to  God  of  all  unblemished  males  who  are  the  first¬ 
born  of  their  mothers — for  such  is  the  full  statement  of 
what  is  claimed. 

In  speaking  to  Moses  the  Lord  says,  “  Sanctify  unto 
Me  all  the  firstborn  ...  it  is  Mine.”  But  Moses  address¬ 
ing  the  people  advances  gradually,  and  almost  diploma¬ 
tically.  First  he  reminds  them  of  their  deliverance,  and 
in  so  doing  he  employs  a  phrase  which  could  only  have 
been  used  at  the  exact  stage  when  they  were  emanci¬ 
pated  and  yet  upon  Egyptian  soil :  “  By  strength  of 
hand  the  Lord  brought  you  out  from  this  place ”  (ver.  3). 
Then  he  charges  them  not  to  forget  their  rescue,  in  the 
dangerous  time  of  their  prosperity,  when  the  Lord 


200 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


shall  have  brought  them  into  the  land  which  He  swore 
to  give  them  ;  and  he  repeats  the  ordinance  of  un¬ 
leavened  bread.  And  it  is  only  then  that  he  proceeds 
to  announce  the  permanent  consecration  of  all  their 
firstborn — the  abiding  doctrine  that  these,  who  naturally 
represent  the  nation,  are  for  its  unworthiness  forfeited, 
and  yet  by  the  grace  of  God  redeemed. 

God,  Who  gave  all  and  pardons  all,  demands  a  return, 
not  as  a  tax  which  is  levied  for  its  own  sake,  but  as 
a  confession  of  dependence,  and  like  the  silk  flag 
presented  to  the  sovereign,  on  the  anniversaries  of  the 
two  greatest  of  English  victories,  by  the  descendants 
of  the  conquerors,  who  hold  their  estates  upon  that 
tenure.  The  firstborn,  thus  dedicated,  should  have 
formed  a  sacred  class,  a  powerful  element  in  Hebrew 
life  enlisted  on  the  side  of  God. 

For  these,  as  wTe  have  already  seen,  the  Levites  were 
afterwards  substituted  (Num.  iii.  44),  and  there  is 
perhaps  some  allusion  to  this  change  in  the  direction 
that  “  all  the  firstborn  of  man  thou  shalt  redeem  ” 
(ver.  13).  But  yet  the  demand  is  stated  too  broadly 
and  imperatively  to  belong  to  that  later  modification : 
it  suits  exactly  the  time  to  which  it  is  attributed, 
before  the  tribe  of  Levi  was  substituted  for  the 
firstborn  of  all. 

“They  are  Mine,”  said  Jehovah,  Who  needed  not, 
that  night,  to  remind  them  what  He  had  wrought  the 
night  before.  It  is  for  precisely  the  same  reason,  that 
St.  Paul  claims  all  souls  for  God  :  “  Ye  are  not  your 
own,  ye  are  bought  with  a  price  ;  therefore  glorify  God 
with  your  bodies  and  with  your  spirits,  which  are 
God’s.” 

And  besides  the  general  claim  upon  us  all,  each  of 
us  should  feel,  like  the  firstborn,  that  every  special 


Xlll  I.J 


THE  LAW  OF  THE  FIRSTBORN. 


201 


mercy  is  a  call  to  special  gratitude,  to  more  earnest 
dedication.  “  I  beseech  you,  by  the  mercies  of  God, 
that  ye  present  your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice  ”  (Rom. 
xii.  i). 

There  is  a  tone  of  exultant  confidence  in  the  words 
of  Moses,  very  interesting  and  curious.  He  and  his 
nation  are  breathing  the  free  air  at  last.  The  deliver¬ 
ance  that  has  been  given  makes  all  the  promise  that 
remains  secure.  As  one  who  feels  his  pardon  will 
surely  not  despair  of  heaven,  so  Moses  twice  over 
instructs  the  people  what  to  do  when  God  shall  have 
kept  the  oath  which  He  swore,  and  brought  them  into 
Canaan,  into  the  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey. 
Then  they  must  observe  His  passover.  Then  they 
must  consecrate  their  firstborn. 

And  twice  over  this  emancipator  and  law-giver,  in 
the  first  flush  of  his  success,  impresses  upon  them  the 
homely  duty  of  teaching  their  households  what  God 
had  done  for  them  (vers.  8,  14;  cf.  xii.  26). 

This,  accordingly,  the  Psalmist  learned,  and  in  his 
turn  transmitted.  He  heard  with  his  ears  and  his 
fathers  told  him  what  God  did  in  their  days,  in  the 
days  of  old.  And  he  told  the  generation  to  come 
the  praises  of  Jehovah,  and  His  strength,  and  His 
wondrous  works  (Ps.  xliv.  I,  lxxviii.  4). 

But  it  is  absurd  to  treat  these  verses,  as  Kuenen 
does,  as  evidence  that  the  story  is  mere  legend : 
“  transmitted  from  mouth  to  mouth,  it  gradually  lost 
its  accuracy  and  precision,  and  adopted  all  sorts  of 
foreign  elements.”  To  prove  which,  we  are  gravely 
referred  to  passages  like  this.  ( Religion  of  Israel ,  i.  22, 
Eng.  Vers.)  The  duty  of  oral  instruction  is  still 
acknowledged,  but  this  does  not  prove  that  the 
narrative  is  still  unwritten. 


202 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


From  the  emphatic  language  in  which  Moses  urged 
this  double  duty,  too  much  forgotten  still,  of  remem¬ 
bering  and  showing  forth  the  goodness  of  God,  sprang 
the  curious  custom  of  the  wearing  of  phylacteries.  But 
the  Jews  were  not  bidden  to  wear  signs  and  frontlets  : 
they  were  bidden  to  let  hallowed  memories  be  unto 
them  in  the  place  of  such  charms  as  they  had  seen 
the  Egyptians  wear,  11  for  a  sign  unto  thee,  upon  thine 
hand,  and  for  a  frontlet  between  thine  eyes,  that  the 
law  of  the  Lord  may  be  in  thy  mouth  ”  (ver.  9).  Such 
language  is  frequent  in  the  Old  Testament,  where 
mercy  and  truth  should  be  bound  around  their  necks ; 
their  fathers’  commandments  should  be  tied  around 
their  necks,  bound  on  their  fingers,  written  on  their 
hearts ;  and  Sion  should  clothe  herself  with  her  con¬ 
verts  as  an  ornament,  and  gird  them  upon  her  as  a 
bride  doth  (Prov.  iii.  3,  vi.  21,  vii.  3  ;  Isa.  xlix.  18). 

But  human  nature  still  finds  the  letter  of  many  a 
commandment  easier  than  the  spirit,  a  ceremony  than 
an  obedient  heart,  penance  than  penitence,  ashes  on  the 
forehead  than  a  contrite  spirit,  and  a  phylactery  than 
the  gratitude  and  acknowledgment  which  ought  to  be 
unto  us  for  a  sign  on  the  hand  and  a  frontlet  between 
the  eyes. 

We  have  already  observed  the  connection  between 
the  thirteenth  verse  and  the  events  of  the  previous 
night.  But  there  is  an  interesting  touch  of  nature  in 
the  words  “the  firstling  of  an  ass  thou  shalt  redeem 
with  a  lamb.”  It  w7as  afterwards  rightly  perceived  that 
all  unclean  animals  should  follow  the  same  rule ;  but 
why  was  only  the  ass  mentioned  ?  Plainly  because 
those  humble  journeyers  had  no  other  beast  of  burden. 
Horses  pursued  them  presently,  but  even  the  Egyptians 
of  that  period  used  them  only  in  war.  The  trampled 


xiii.  I.] 


THE  LAW  OF  THE  FIRSTBORN. 


203 


Hebrews  would  not  possess  camels.  And  thus  again, 
in  the  tenth  commandment,  when  the  stateliest  of  their 
cattle  is  specified,  no  beast  of  burden  is  named  with 
it  but  the  ass :  “  Thou  shalt  not  covet  .  .  .  his  ox  nor 
his  ass.”  It  is  an  undesigned  coincidence  of  real 
value ;  a  phrase  which  would  never  have  been  devised 
by  legislators  of  a  later  date ;  a  frank  and  unconscious 
evidence  of  the  genuineness  of  the  story. 

Some  time  before  this,  a  new  and  fierce  race,  whose 
name  declared  them  to  be  “emigrants,”  had  thrust 
itself  in  among  the  tribes  of  Canaan — a  race  which  was 
long  to  wage  equal  war  with  Israel,  and  not  seldom  to 
see  his  back  turned  in  battle.  They  now  held  all  the 
south  of  Palestine,  from  the  brook  of  Egypt  to  Ekron 
(Josh.  xv.  4,  47).  And  if  Moses  in  the  flush  of  his 
success  had  pushed  on  by  the  straight  and  easy  route 
into  the  promised  land,  the  first  shock  of  combat  with 
them  would  have  been  felt  in  a  few  weeks.  But  “  God 
led  them  not  by  the  way  of  the  Philistines,  though  that 
was  near,  for  God  said,  Lest  peradventure  the  people 
repent  them  when  they  see  war,  and  they  return  to 
Egypt”  (ver.  17). 

From  this  we  learn  two  lessons.  Why  did  not  He, 
Who  presently  made  strong  the  hearts  of  the  Egyptians 
to  plunge  into  the  bed  of  the  sea,  make  the  hearts  of 
His  own  people  strong  to  defy  the  Philistines  ?  The 
answer  is  a  striking  and  solemn  one.  Neither  God  in 
the  Old  Testament,  nor  God  manifested  in  the  flesh, 
is  ever  recorded  to  have  wrought  any  miracle  of 
spiritual  advancement  or  overthrow.  Thus  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  were  but  confirmed  in  their  own  choice :  their 
decision  was  carried  further.  And  even  Saul  of  Tarsus 
was  illuminated,  not  coerced :  he  might  have  disobeyed 
the  heavenly  vision.  He  was  not  an  insincere  man 


204 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


suddenly  coerced  into  earnestness,  nor  a  coward  sud¬ 
denly  made  brave.  In  the  moral  world,  adequate  means 
are  always  employed  for  the  securing  of  desired  effects. 
Love,  gratitude,  the  sense  of  danger  and  of  grace,  are 
the  powers  which  elevate  characters.  And  persons 
who  live  in  sensuality,  fraud,  or  falsehood,  hoping  to 
be  saved  some  day  by  a  sort  of  miracle  of  grace,  ought 
to  ponder  this  truth,  which  may  not  be  the  gospel  now 
fashionable,  but  is  unquestionably  the  statement  of  a 
Scriptural  fact :  in  the  moral  sphere ,  God  works  by 
means  and  not  by  miracle. 

A  free  life,  the  desert  air,  the  rejection  of  the  unfit 
by  many  visitations,  and  the  growth  of  a  new  genera¬ 
tion  amid  thrilling  events,  in  a  soul-stirring  region, 
and  under  the  pure  influences  of  the  law, — these  were 
necessary  before  Israel  could  cross  steel  with  the  war¬ 
like  children  of  the  Philistines ;  and  even  then,  it  was 
not  with  them  that  he  should  begin. 

The  other  lesson  we  learn  is  the  tender  fidelity  of 
God,  Who  will  not  suffer  us  to  be  tempted  above  that 
we  are  able  to  bear.  He  led  them  aside  into  the 
desert,  whither  He  still  in  mercy  leads  very  many 
who  think  it  a  heavy  judgment  to  be  there. 

THE  BONES  OF  JOSEPH. 
xiii.  19. 

It  is  certain  that  Moses,  in  the  days  of  his  greatness, 
must  often  have  mused  by  the  sepulchre  of  the  one 
Israelite  before  himself  who  held  high  rank  in  Egypt. 
The  knowledge  that  Joseph's  elevation  was  providential 
must  have  helped  him  at  that  time,  now  many  years 
ago,  to  think  rightly  of  his  own.  And  now  we  read 
that  Moses  took  the  bones  of  Joseph  with  him.  In 


xiii.  19.] 


THE  BONES  OF  JOSEPH. 


205 


the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (xi.  22)  it  is  recorded 
as  the  most  characteristic  example  of  the  faith  of  the 
patriarch,  that  instead  of  desiring  to  be  carried,  like 
his  father,  at  once  to  Canaan,  he  made  mention  of 
the  departure  of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  gave  com¬ 
mandment  concerning  his  bones.  To  him  Egypt  was 
no  longer  an  alien  land.  There  only  he  had  known 
honour  without  envy,  and  happiness  without  betrayal. 
There  his  bones  could  rest  in  quiet ;  but  not  for  ever. 
Personal  elevation,  which  had  not  rent  the  cord  between 
him  and  his  unworthy  family,  could  still  less  sever  the 
bands  between  him  and  the  sacred  race.  Let  him 
sleep  in  Egypt  while  his  grave  there  was  honoured  : 
let  the  remembrance  of  him  be  kept  fresh,  to  protect 
awhile  his  kindred ;  and  when  the  predicted  days  of  evil 
came,  let  his  ashes  share  the  neglect  and  dishonour  of 
his  people,  if  only  they  would  remember  his  remains 
when  the  Lord  would  lead  them  forth.  This  confidence 
in  their  emancipation  was  his  faith — which  meant,  here 
as  always,  not  a  clear  view  of  truth,  but  an  assuring 
grasp  of  it.  He  had  straitly  sworn  the  children  of 
Israel  saying,  il  God  will  surely  visit  you ;  and  ye 
shall  carry  up  my  bones  away  hence  with  you.” 

Many  a  Christian  might  well  envy  a  confidence  so 
practical,  so  thoroughly  realised,  entering  so  naturally 
into  the  tissue  of  his  thoughts  and  calculations.  And 
their  actual  remembrance  of  him  goes  to  show  that 
the  tradition  of  his  faith  had  never  completely  died 
out,  but  was  among  the  influences  which  kept  alive 
the  nation’s  hope. 

And  as  the  people  bore  his  honoured  ashes  through 
the  desert,  these  being  dead  spoke  of  bygone  times, 
they  linked  the  present  and  the  past  together,  they 
deepened  the  national  consciousness  that  Israel  was 


206 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


a  favoured  people,  called  to  no  common  destiny, 
sustained  by  no  common  promises,  pressing  toward 
no  common  goal. 

If  Israel  had  been  wise,  they  would  have  thought 
of  him,  the  Israelite  in  heart,  though  glittering  in  the 
splendours  of  Egypt ;  and  would  have  considered  well 
that  as  little  as  men  detected  his  secret  life  from  his 
appearance,  so  little  could  theirs  be  judged.  To  the 
eye,  they  were  free  from  the  foreign  trammels  in  which 
he  was  seemingly  entangled,  yet  many  of  them  in  heart 
turned  back  to  all  which  strove  in  vain  to  bind  his 
affections  down.  The  lesson  holds  good  to-day.  Many 
a  modern  religionist  looks  askance  at  the  u  worldliness  ” 
of  high  office  and  rank  and  state ;  little  dreaming  that 
the  “  world  "  he  censures  is  strong  in  his  own  ambitious 
and  self-asserting  spirit,  and  is  overcome  by  the  gentle 
and  tranquil  spirit  of  hundreds  of  those  whom  he  con¬ 
demns. 

Bearing  this  hallowed  burden,  which  might  easily 
have  become  an  object  of  superstitious  regard,  the 
nation  moved  from  Succoth  to  Etham  on  the  edge  of 
the  wilderness.  And  with  them  a  Presence  moved 
which  rebuked  all  others,  however  venerable.  The 
Lord  went  before  them.  It  has  already  been  pointed 
out  that  throughout  the  early  history  of  this  nation, 
just  come  out  of  an  idolatrous  land,  and  too  ready  to 
lapse  back  into  superstition,  God  never  reveals  Himself 
except  in  fire.  To  Abraham  and  to  Jacob  He  appeared 
in  human  form,  and  again  to  Joshua ;  but  in  the  interval, 
never.  So  now  they  see  Him  by  day  in  a  pillar  of 
cloud  to  guide  them  on  the  way,  and  by  night  in  a 
pillar  of  fire  to  give  them  light.  The  glory  of  the 
nation  was  that  manifested  Presence,  lacking  which, 
Moses  besought  Him  to  carry  them  up  no  farther. 


liii.  19.] 


THE  BONES  OF  JOSEPH. 


207 


Nothing  in  the  Exodus  is  more  impressive,  and  it 
sank  deep  into  the  national  heart.  Many  centuries 
afterwards,  the  ideal  of  a  golden  age  was  that  the 
Lord  should  "  create  over  the  whole  habitation  of  Mount 
Zion,  and  over  her  assemblies,  a  cloud  of  smoke  by  day, 
and  the  shining  of  a  flaming  fire  by  night"  (Isa.  iv.  5). 

But  it  has  been  well  observed  that,  amid  the  various 
allusions  to  it  in  Hebrew  poetry,  not  one  treats  it  as 
modern  literature  has  done,  with  an  eye  to  its  marvel¬ 
lous  sublimity  and  picturesque  effects  : 

“  By  day,  along  the  astonished  lands 
The  cloudy  pillar  glided  slow : 

By  night,  Arabia’s  crimsoned  sands 
Returned  the  fiery  column’s  glow.’* 

The  Hebrew  poetry  is  vivid  and  passionate,  but  all 
its  concerns  are  human  or  divine — God,  and  the  life 
of  man.  It  is  not  artistic,  but  inspired.  "  The  modern 
poet  is  delighting  in  the  scenic  effect ;  the  ancient 
chronicler  was  wholly  occupied  with  the  overshadow¬ 
ing  power  of  God.”  * 


•  Hutton’s  Essays,  Vol.  ii.,  Literary :  The  Poetry  of  the  Old  Test. 


CHAPTER  XIV, 

THE  RED  SEA. 
xiv.  1-3 1. 

IT  would  seem  that  the  Israelites  recoiled  before  a 
frontier  fortress  of  Egypt  at  Khetam  (Etham).  This 
is  probable,  whatever  theory  of  the  route  of  the  Exodus 
cue  may  adopt ;  and  it  is  still  open  to  every  reader  to 
adopt  almost  any  theory  he  pleases,  provided  that  two 
facts  are  borne  in  mind  :  viz.,  first,  that  the  narrative 
certainly  means  to  describe  a  miraculous  interference, 
not  superseding  the  forces  of  nature,  but  wielding 
them  in  a  fashion  impossible  to  man ;  and  second,  that 
the  phrase  translated  “  Red  Sea”  *  (xiii.  18,  xv.  4)  is 
the  same  which  is  confessed  by  all  persons  to  have 
that  meaning  in  chap,  xxiii.  31,  and  in  Numbers  xxi.  4 
and  xxxiii.  10. 

Checked,  without  loss  or  with  it,  they  were  bidden 
to  11  turn  back,”  and  encamp  at  Pi-hahiroth,  between 
Migdol  and  the  sea.  And  since  Migdol  is  simply  a 
watch-tower  (there  were  several  in  the  Holy  Land,  in¬ 
cluding  that  which  gave  her  name  to  Mary  Magdal-ene), 
we  are  to  infer  that  from  thence  their  inexplicable 


*  The  Sea  of  Zuph,  or  reeds,  the  word  being  used  of  the  reeds  in 
which  Moses  was  laid  by  his  mother  and  found  by  Pharaoh’s  daughter 
(ii.  3,  5),  rendered  “  flags  ”  in  the  Revised  Version. 


xiv.  I -3 1.] 


THE  RED  SEA. 


209 


movements  were  signalled  back  to  Pharaoh.  It  was 
the  natural  signal  for  all  the  wild  passions  of  a  baffled 
and  half-ruined  tyrant  to  leap  into  flame.  We  are 
scarcely  able  to  imagine  the  mental  condition  of  men 
tvho  conceived  that  a  God  Who  had  dealt  out  death 

and  destruction  might  be  far  from  invincible  from 

another  side.  But  ages  after  this,  a  campaign  was 
planned  upon  the  ingenious  theory  that  “Jehovah  is 
a  god  of  the  hills  but  He  is  not  a  god  of  the  valleys  " 
(1  Kings  xx.  28) ;  and  plenty  of  people  who  would 
scorn  this  simple  notion  are  still  of  opinion  that  He 
is  a  God  of  eternity  and  can  save  them  from  hell, 

but  a  little  falsehood  and  knavery  are  much  better 

able  to  save  them  from  want  in  the  meanwhile.  Nay, 
there  are  many  excellent  persons  who  are  not  at 
all  of  opinion  that  the  prince  of  this  world  has  been 
dethroned. 

Therefore,  when  his  enemies  recoiled  from  his  for¬ 
tresses  and  wandered  away  into  the  wilderness  of  Egypt, 
entangling  themselves  hopelessly  between  the  sea,  the 
mountains,  and  his  own  strongholds,  it  might  well 
appear  to  Pharaoh  that  Jehovah  was  not  a  warlike 
deity,  that  he  himself  had  now  found  out  the  weak 
point  of  his  enemies,  and  could  pursue  and  overtake 
and  satisfy  his  lust  upon  them.  There  is  a  significant 
emphasis  in  the  song  of  Miriam’s  triumph — “Jehovah 
is  a  man  of  war."  At  all  events,  it  was  through  an 
imperfect  sense  of  the  universal  and  practical  import¬ 
ance  of  Jehovah  as  a  factor  not  to  be  neglected  in  his 
calculations,  through  exactly  the  same  error  which  mis¬ 
leads  every  man  who  postpones  religion,  or  limits  the 
range  of  its  influence  in  his  daily  life, — it  was  thus,  and 
not  through  any  rarer  infatuation,  that  Pharaoh  made 
ready  six  hundred  chosen  chariots  and  all  the  chariots 

14 


210 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


of  Egypt,  and  captains  over  all  of  them.  And  his  court 
was  of  the  same  mind,  saying,  “  What  is  this  that  we 
have  done,  that  we  have  let  Israel  go  from  serving 
us  ?  ” 

These  words  are  hard  to  reconcile  with  the  strange 
notion  that  until  now  a  return  after  three  days  was 
expected,  despite  the  torrent  of  blood  which  rolled 
between  them,  and  the  demands  by  which  the  Israel- 
itish  women  had  spoiled  the  Egyptians.  Upon  this 
theory  it  is  not  their  own  error,  but  the  bad  faith 
of  their  servants,  which  they  should  have  cried  out 
against. 

At  the  sight  of  the  army,  a  panic  seized  the  servile 
hearts  of  the  fugitives.  First  they  cried  out  unto  the 
Lord.  But  how  possible  it  is,  without  any  real  faith, 
to  address  to  Heaven  the  mere  clamours  of  our  alarm, 
and  to  mistake  natural  agitation  for  earnestness  in 
prayer,  we  learn  by  the  reproaches  with  which,  after 
thus  crying  to  the  Lord,  they  assailed  His  servant. 
Were  there  no  graves  in  that  land  of  superb  sepulchres 
— that  land,  now,  of  universal  mourning  ?  Would 
God  that  they  had  perished  with  the  firstborn  !  Why 
had  they  been  treated  thus  ?  Had  they  not  urged 
Moses  to  let  them  alone,  that  they  might  serve  the 
Egyptians  ? 

And  yet  these  men  had  lately,  for  the  very  promise 
of  so  much  emancipation  as  they  now  enjoyed,  bowed 
their  heads  in  adoring  thankfulness.  As  it  was  their 
fear  which  now  took  the  form  of  supplication,  so  then 
it  was  their  hope  which  took  the  form  of  praise.  And 
we,  how  shall  we  know  whether  that  in  us  which 
seems  to  be  religious  gladness  and  religious  grief,  is 
mere  emotion,  or  is  truly  sacred  ?  By  watching 
whether  worship  and  love  continue,  when  emotion  has 


xiv.  1-3 1.] 


THE  RED  SEA. 


21 1 


spent  its  force,  or  has  gone  round,  like  the  wind,  to 
another  quarter. 

How  did  Moses  feel  when  this  outcry  told  him  of 
the  unworthiness  and  cowardice  of  the  nation  of  his 
heart  ?  Much  as  we  feel,  perhaps,  when  we  see  the 
frailties  and  failures  of  converts  in  the  mission-field, 
and  the  lapse  of  the  intemperate  who  have  seemed  to 
be  reclaimed  for  ever.  We  thought  that  perfection 
was  to  be  reached  at  a  bound.  Now  we  think  that 
the  whole  work  was  unreal.  Both  extremes  are 
wrong  :  we  have  much  to  learn  from  the  failures  of 
that  ancient  church,  in  which  was  the  germ  of  hero, 
psalmist,  and  prophet,  which  was  indeed  the  church 
in  the  wilderness,  and  whose  many  relapses  were  so 
tenderly  borne  with  by  God  and  His  messenger. 

The  settled  faith  of  Moses,  and  the  assurances  which 
he  could  give  the  agitated  people,*  contrast  nobly 
with  their  alarm.  But  his  confidence  also  had  its 
secret  springs  in  prayer,  for  the  Lord  said  to  him, 
“  Wherefore  criest  thou  unto  Me  ?  speak  unto  the 
children  of  Israel  that  they  go  forward." 

The  words  are  remarkable  on  two  accounts.  Can 
prayer  ever  be  out  of  place  ?  Not  if  we  mean  a 
prayerful  dependent  mental  attitude  toward  God. 
But  certainly,  yes,  if  God  has  already  revealed  that 
for  which  we  still  importune  Him,  and  we  are  secretly 


*  But  his  assurance  is,  “The  Lord  shall  fight  for  you,  and  ye  shall 
hold  your  peace.”  When  Wellhausen  would  summarise  the  work  of 
Moses,  he  tells  us  that  “  he  taught  them  to  regard  self-assertion 
against  the  Egyptians  as  an  article  of  religion”  ( History ,  p.  430).  It 
would  be  impossible,  within  the  compass  of  so  many  words,  more 
completely  to  miss  the  remarkable  characteristic  which  differentiates 
this  whole  narrative  fiom  all  other  revolutionary  movements.  Ex¬ 
pectancy  and  dependence  here  take  the  place  of  “self-assertion.” 


212 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


disquieted  lest  His  promise  should  fail.  It  is  mis¬ 
placed  if  our  own  duty  has  to  be  done,  and  we  pass 
the  golden  moments  in  inactivity,  however  pious. 
Christ  spoke  of  men  who  should  leave  their  gift  before 
the  altar,  unpresented,  because  of  a  neglected  duty 
which  should  be  discharged.  And  perhaps  there  are 
men  who  pray  for  the  conversion  of  the  heathen,  or  of 
friends  at  home,  to  whom  God  says,  Wherefore  criest 
thou  unto  Me  ?  because  their  money  and  their  faithful 
efforts  must  be  given,  as  Moses  must  arouse  himself 
to  lead  the  people  forward,  and  to  stretch  his  wand 
over  the  sea. 

And  again  the  forces  of  nature  are  on  the  side  of 
God  :  the  strong  wind  makes  the  depths  of  the  sea  a 
way  for  the  ransomed  to  pass  over.  History  has  no 
scene  more  picturesque  than  this  wild  night  march, 
in  the  roar  of  tempest,  amid  the  flying  foam  which 
“  baptized  ”  them  unto  Moses,*  while  the  glimmering 
waters  stood  up  like  a  rampart  to  protect  their  flanks  ; 
the  full  moon  of  passover  above  them,  shown  and  hidden 
as  the  swift  clouds  raced  before  the  storm,  while  high 
and  steadfast  overhead,  unshaken  by  the  fiercest  blast, 
illumined  by  a  mysterious  splendour,  u  stood  ”  the  vast 
cloud  which  veiled  like  a  curtain  their  whole  host  from 
the  pursuer.  This  it  was,  and  the  experience  of  such 
protection  that  the  Egyptians,  overawed,  came  not  near 
them,  which  gave  them  courage  to  enter  the  bed  of  the 
sea ;  and  as  they  trod  the  strange  road  they  found  that 
not  only  were  the  waters  driven  off  the  surface,  but 
the  sands  were  left  firm  to  traverse. 

But  when  the  blind  fury  of  Pharaoh,  "  hardened” 


*  Not  the  adults  only;  nor  yet  by  immersion,  whether  in  the 
rain-cloud  or  the  surf, 


xiv.  1-31.3 


TIIE  RED  SEA. 


213 


against  everything  but  the  sense  that  his  prey  was 
escaping,  sent  his  army  along  the  same  track,  and  this 
after  long  delay,  at  a  crisis  when  every  moment  was 
priceless,  then  a  new  element  of  terrible  sublimity  was 
added.  Through  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire  Jehovah 
looked  forth  on  the  Egyptian  host,  as  they  pressed  on 
behind,  unable  to  penetrate  the  supernatural  gloom, 
cold  fear  creeping  into  every  heart,  while  the  chariot 
wheels  laboured  heavily  in  the  wet  sand.  In  that 
direful  vision  at  last  the  question  was  answered,  “  Who 
is  Jehovah,  that  I  should  let  His  people  go  ?  ”  Now  it 
was  the  turn  of  those  who  said  “  Israel  is  entangled  in 
the  land,  the  wilderness  hath  shut  them  in/'  themselves 
to  be  taken  in  a  worse  net.  For  at  that  awful  gaze 
the  iron  curb  of  military  discipline  gave  way;  their 
labouring  chariots,  the  pride  and  defence  of  the  nation, 
were  forsaken ;  and  a  wild  cry  broke  out,  u  Let  us  fly 
from  the  face  of  Israel,  for  Jehovah  ” — He  who  plagued 
us — “fighteth  for  them  against  the  Egyptians.”  But 
their  humiliation  came  too  late, — for  in  the  morning 
wratch,  at  a  natural  time  for  atmospheric  changes,  but 
in  obedience  to  the  rod  of  Moses,  the  furious  wind 
veered  or  fell,  and  the  sea  returned  to  its  accustomed 
limits;  and  first,  as  the  sands  beneath  became  satu¬ 
rated,  the  chariots  wTere  overturned  and  the  mail-clad 
charioteers  v7ent  down  u  like  lead,”  and  then  the 
hissing  line  of  foam  raced  forward  and  closed  around 
and  over  the  shrieking  mob  which  was  the  pride  and 
strength  of  Egypt  only  an  hour  before. 

But,  as  the  story  repeats  twice  over,  with  a  very 
natural  and  glad  reiteration,  “  the  children  of  Israel 
walked  on  dry  land  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  and  the 
wTaters  were  a  wall  unto  them  on  their  right  hand, 
and  on  their  left  ”  (ver.  29,  cf.  22). 


214 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


ON  THE  SHORE. 


xiv.  30,  31. 

After  the  haste  and  agitation  of  their  marvellous 
deliverance  the  children  of  Israel  seem  to  have  halted 
for  awhile  at  the  only  spot  in  the  neighbourhood 
where  there  is  water,  known  as  the  Ayoun  Musa  or 
springs  of  Moses  to  this  day.  There  they  doubtless 
brought  into  some  permanent  shape  their  rudimentary 
organisation.  There,  too,  their  impressions  were  given 
time  to  deepen.  They  "saw  the  Egyptians  dead  on  the 
sea-shore/’  and  realised  that  their  oppression  was  indeed 
at  an  end,  their  chains  broken,  themselves  introduced 
into  a  new  life, — “  baptized  unto  Moses.”  They  re¬ 
flected  upon  the  difference  between  all  other  deities  and 
the  God  of  their  fathers,  Who,  in  that  deadly  crisis, 
had  looked  upon  them  and  their  tyrants  out  of  the 
fiery  pillar.  “  They  feared  Jehovah,  and  they  believed 
in  Jehovah  and  in  His  servant  Moses.” 

“They  believed  in  Jehovah.”  This  expression  is 
noteworthy,  because  they  had  all  believed  in  Him 
already.  “By  faith  ‘they’  forsook  Egypt.  By  faith 
*  they  '  kept  the  passover  and  the  sprinkling  of  blood. 
By  faith  1  they  *  passed  through  the  Red  Sea.”  But 
their  former  trust  was  poor  and  wavering  compared 
with  that  which  filled  their  bosoms  now.  So  the 
disciples  followed  Jesus  because  they  believed  on  Him ; 
yet  when  His  first  miracle  manifested  forth  His  glory, 
“  His  disciples  believed  on  Him  there.”  And  again 
they  said,  “  By  this  we  believe  that  Thou  earnest 
forth  from  God.”  And  after  the  resurrection  He  said, 
“  Because  thou  hast  seen  Me  thou  hast  believed  ” 
(John  ii.  1 1,  xvi.  30,  xx.  29).  Faith  needs  to  be  edified 


xiv.  30,  31.] 


ON  THE  SHORE. 


215 


by  successive  experiences,  as  the  enthusiasm  of  a  recruit 
is  converted  into  the  disciplined  valour  of  the  veteran. 
From  each  new  crisis  of  the  spiritual  life  the  soul 
should  obtain  new  powers.  And  that  is  a  shallow  and 
unstable  religion  which  is  content  with  the  level  of 
its  initial  act  of  faith  (however  genuine  and  however 
important),  and  seeks  not  to  go  from  strength  to 
strength. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


THE  SONG  OF  MOSES. 


XV.  1-22. 


URING  this  halt  they  prepared  that  great  song  of 


triumph  which  St.  John  heard  sung  by  them  who 
had  been  victorious  over  the  beast,  standing  by  the  sea 
of  glass,  having  the  harps  of  God.  For  by  that  calmer 
sea,  triumphant  over  a  deadlier  persecution,  they  still 
found  their  adoration  and  joy  expressed  in  this  earliest 
chant  of  sacred  victory.  Because  all  holy  hearts  give 
like  thanks  to  Him  Who  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  there¬ 
fore  “deep  answers  unto  deep/’  and  every  great  crisis 
in  the  history  of  the  Church  has  legacies  for  all  time 
and  for  eternity ;  and  therefore  the  triumphant  song 
of  Moses  the  servant  of  God  enriches  the  worship  of 
heaven,  as  the  penitence  and  hope  and  joy  of  David 
enrich  the  worship  of  the  Church  on  earth  (Rev.  xv.  3). 

Like  all  great  poetry,  this  song  is  best  enjoyed 
when  it  is  neither  commented  upon  nor  paraphrased, 
but  carefully  read  and  warmly  felt.  There  are  circum¬ 
stances  and  lines  of  thought  which  it  is  desirable  to 
point  out,  but  only  as  a  preparation,  not  a  substitute, 
for  the  submission  of  a  docile  mind  to  the  influence  of 
the  inspired  poem  itself.  It  is  unquestionably  archaic. 
The  parallelism  ot  Hebrew  verse  is  already  here,  but 
the  structure  is  more  free  and  unartificial  than  that  of 
later  poetry;  and  many  ancient  words,  and  words  of 


XV.  1  22.] 


THE  SONG  OF  MOSES. 


217 


Egyptian  derivation,  authenticate  its  origin.  So  does 
the  description  of  Miriam,  in  the  fifteenth  verse,  as  “  the 
prophetess,  the  sister  of  Aaron.”  In  what  later  time 
vvould  she  not  rather  have  been  called  the  sister  of 
Moses  ?  But  from  the  lonely  youth  who  found  Aaron 
and  Miriam  together  as  often  as  he  stole  from  the 
palace  to  his  real  home — the  lonely  man  who  regained 
both  together  when  he  returned  from  forty  years  of 
exile,  and  who  sometimes  found  them  united  in  oppo¬ 
sition  to  his  authority  (Num.  xii.  I,  2) — from  Moses 
alone  the  epithet  is  entirely  natural. 

It  is  also  noteworthy  that  Philistia  is  mentioned  first 
among  the  foes  who  shall  be  terrified  (ver.  14,  R.V.), 
because  Moses  still  expected  the  invasion  to  break  first 
on  them.  But  the  unbelieving  fears  of  Israel  changed 
the  route,  so  that  no  later  poet  would  have  set  them  in 
the  forefront  of  his  song.  Thus  also  the  terror  of  the 
Edomites  is  anticipated,  although  in  fact  they  sturdily 
refused  a  passage  to  Israel  through  their  land  (Num. 
xx.  20).  All  this  authenticates  the  song,  which 
thereupon  establishes  the  miraculous  deliverance  that 
inspired  it. 

The  song  is  divided  into  two  parts.  Up  to  the  end 
of  the  twelfth  verse  it  is  historical  :  the  remainder 
expresses  the  high  hopes  inspired  by  this  great  experi¬ 
ence.  Nothing  now  seems  impossible :  the  fiercest 
tribes  of  Palestine  and  the  desert  may  be  despised, 
for  their  own  terror  will  suffice  to  **  melt  ”  them  ;  and 
Israel  may  already  reckon  itself  to  be  guided  into  the 
holy  habitation  (ver.  13). 

The  former  part  is  again  subdivided,  by  a  noble  and 
instinctive  art,  into  two  very  unequal  sections.  With 
amplitude  of  triumphant  adoration,  the  first  ten  verses 
tell  the  same  story  which  the  eleventh  and  twelfth 


218 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


compress  into  epigrammatical  vigour  and  terseness. 
To  appreciate  the  power  of  the  composition,  one 
should  read  the  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  verses,  and 
turn  immediately  to  the  twelfth. 

Each  of  these  three  divisions  closes  in  praise,  and 
as  in  the  “  Israel  in  Egypt,”  it  was  probably  at  these 
points  that  the  voices  of  Miriam  and  the  women  broke 
in,  repeating  the  first  verse  of  the  ode  as  a  refrain 
(vers.  I  and  21).  It  is  the  earliest  recognition  of  the 
place  of  women  in  public  worship.  And  it  leads  us  to 
remark  that  the  whole  service  was  responsive.  Moses 
and  the  men  are  answered  by  Miriam  and  the  women, 
bearing  timbrels  in  their  hands  ;  for  although  instru¬ 
mental  music  had  been  sorely  misused  in  Egypt,  that 
was  no  reason  why  it  should  be  excluded  now.  Those 
who  condemn  the  use  of  instiuments  in  Christian 
worship  virtually  contend  that  Jesus  has,  in  this 
respect,  narrowed  the  liberty  of  the  Church,  and  that 
a  potent  method  of  expression,  known  to  man,  must 
not  be  consecrated  to  the  honour  of  God.  And  they 
make  the  present  time  unlike  the  past,  and  also  unlike 
v/hat  is  revealed  of  the  future  state. 

Moreover  there  was  movement,  as  in  very  many 
ancient  religious  services,  within  and  without  the  pale 
of  revelation.*  Such  dances  were  generally  slow  and 
graceful ;  yet  the  motion  and  the  clang  of  metal,  and 
the  vast  multitudes  congregated,  must  be  taken  into 
account,  if  we  would  realise  the;  strange  enthusiasm 
of  the  emancipated  host,  looking  over  the  blue  sea  to 
Egypt,  defeated  and  twice  bereaved,  and  forward  to 
the  desert  wilds  of  freedom. 


*  There  is  no  warrant  in  the  use  of  Sciipture  for  Stanley’s  assertion 
that  the  word  translated  “dances”  should  be  rendered  “guitars.” 
(Smith’s  Diet,  of  Bible ,  Article  Miriam.') 


XV.  1-22.] 


THE  SONG  OF  MOSES. 


219 


The  poem  is  steeped  in  a  sense  of  gratitude.  In 
the  great  deliverance  man  has  borne  no  part.  It  is 
Jehovah  Who  has  triumphed  gloriously,  and  cast  the 
horse  and  charioteer — there  was  no  u  rider” —  into  the 
sea.  And  this  is  repeated  again  and  again  by  the 
women  as  their  response,  in  the  deepening  passion  of 
the  ode.  <l  With  the  breath  of  His  nostrils  the  waters 
were  piled  up.  .  .  He  blew  with  His  wind  and  the  sea 
covered  them."  And  such  is  indeed  the  only  possible 
explanation  of  the  Exodus,  so  that  whoever  rejects 
the  miracle  is  beset  with  countless  difficulties.  One  of 
these  is  the  fact  that  Moses,  their  immortal  leader,  has 
no  martial  renown  whatever.  Hebrew  poetry  is  well 
able  to  combine  gratitude  to  God  with  honour  to  the 
men  of  Zebulun  who  jeopardised  their  lives  unto  the 
death,  to  Jael  who  put  her  hand  to  the  nail,  to  Saul 
and  Jonathan  who  were  swifter  than  eagles  and  stronger 
than  lions.  Joshua  and  David  can  win  fame  without 
dishonour  to  God.  Why  is  it  that  here  alone  no 
mention  is  made  of  human  agency,  except  that,  in 
fact,  at  the  outset  of  their  national  existence,  they 
were  shown,  once  for  all,  the  direct  interposition  of 
their  God  ? 

From  gratitude  springs  trust :  the  great  lesson  is 
learned  that  man  has  an  interest  in  the  Divine  power. 
“  My  strength  and  song  is  Jah,"  says  the  second  verse, 
using  that  abbreviated  form  of  the  covenant  name 
Jehovah,  which  David  also  frequently  associated  with 
his  victories.  “And  He  is  become  my  salvation."  It 
is  the  same  word  as  when,  a  little  while  ago,  the 
trembling  people  were  bidden  to  stand  still  and  see 
the  salvation  of  God.  They  have  seen  it  now.  Now 
they  give  the  word  Salvation  for  the  first  time  to  the 
Lord  as  an  appellation,  and  as  such  it  is  destined  to 


220 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


endure.  The  Psalmist  learns  to  call  Him  so,  not 
only  when  he  reproduces  this  verse  word  for  word 
(Ps.  cxviii.  14),  but  also  when  he  says,  "  He  only  is 
my  reck  and  my  salvation  ”  (lxii.  2),  and  prays,  11  Before 
Ephraim,  Benjamin,  and  Manasseh,  come  for  salvation 
to  us  ”  (lxxx.  2). 

And  the  same  title  is  known  also  to  Isaiah,  who 
says,  “  Behold  God  is  my  salvation/’  and  “  Be  Thou 
their  arm  every  morning,  our  salvation  also  in  the 
time  of  trouble  ”  (Isa.  xii.  2,  xxxiii.  2). 

The  progress  is  natural  from  experience  of  goodness 
to  appropriation  :  He  has  helped  me  :  He  gives  Himself 
to  me ;  and  from  that  again  to  love  and  trust,  for  He 
has  always  been  the  same:  “my  father,”  not  my 
ancestors  in  general,  but  he  whom  I  knew  best  and 
remember  most  tenderly,  found  Him  the  same  Helper. 
And  then  love  prompts  to  some  return.  My  goodness 
extendeth  not  to  Him,  yet  my  voice  can  honour  Him  ; 
I  wall  praise  Him,  I  will  exalt  His  name.  Nowt,  this  is 
the  very  spirit  of  evangelical  obedience,  the  life-blood 
of  the  new  dispensation  racing  in  the  veins  of  the  old. 

Where  praise  and  exaltation  are  a  spontaneous 
instinct,  there  is  loyal  service  and  every  good  work, 
not  rendered  by  a  hireling  but  a  child.  Had  He  not 
said,  “  Israel  is  My  son  ”  ? 

From  exultant  gratitude  and  trust,  what  is  next  to 
spring  ?  That  which  is  reproachfully  called  anthropo¬ 
morphism,  something  which  indeed  easily  degenerates 
into  unworthy  notions  of  a  God  limited  by  such 
]  estraints  or  warped  by  such  passions  as  our  own, 
yet  which  is  after  all  a  great  advance  towards  true 
and  holy  thoughts  of  Him  Who  made  man  after  His 
image  and  in  His  likeness. 

Human  affection  cannot  go  forth  to  God  without 


XV.  1-22.] 


THE  SONG  OF  MOSES. 


221 


believing  that  like  affection  meets  and  responds  to  it. 
If  He  is  indeed  the  best  and  purest,  we  must  think 
of  Him  as  sharing  all  that  is  best  and  purest  in  our 
souls,  all  that  we  owe  to  His  inspiring  Spirit. 

“  So  through  the  thunder  comes  a  human  voice, 

Saying  *  O  heart  I  made,  a  heart  beats  here.’  ” 

If  ever  any  religion  was  sternly  jealous  of  the  Divine 
prerogatives,  profoundly  conscious  of  the  incommuni¬ 
cable  dignity  of  the  Lord  our  God  Who  is  one  Lord, 
it  was  the  Jewish  religion.  Yet  when  Jesus  was 
charged  with  making  Himself  God,  He  could  appeal  to 
the  doctrine  of  their  own  Scripture — that  the  judges  of 
the  people  exercised  so  divine  a  function,  and  could 
claim  such  divine  support,  that  God  Himself  spoke 
through  them,  and  found  representatives  in  them.  “  Is 
it  not  written  in  your  law,  I  said  Ye  are  gods  ?  ” 
(John  x.  34).  Not  in  vain  did  He  appeal  to  such 
scriptures — and  there  are  many  such — to  vindicate 
His  doctrine.  For  man  is  never  lifted  above  himself, 
but  Gcd  in  the  same  degree  stoops  towards  us,  and 
identifies  Himself  with  us  and  our  concerns.  Who 
then  shall  limit  His  condescension  ?  What  ground  in 
reason  or  revelation  can  be  taken  up  for  denying  that 
it  may  be  perfect,  that  it  may  develop  into  a  permanent 
union  of  God  with  the  creature  whom  He  inspired  with 
His  own  breath  ?  It  is  by  such  steps  that  the  Old 
Testament  prepared  Israel  for  the  Incarnation.  Since 
the  Incarnation  we  have  actually  needed  help  from 
the  other  side,  to  prevent  us  from  humanising  our 
conceptions  over-much.  And  this  has  been  provided  in 
the  ever-expanding  views  of  His  creation  given  to  us 
by  science,  which  tell  us  that  if  He  draws  nigh  to  us 
it  is  from  heights  formerly  undreamed  of.  Now,  such 


222 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


a  step  as  we  have  been  considering  is  taken  unawares 
in  the  told  phrase  "Jehovah  is  a  man  of  war."  For 
in  the  original,  as  in  the  English,  this  includes  the 
assertion  "Jehovah  is  a  man."  Of  course  it  is  only  a 
bold  figure.  But  such  a  figure  prepares  the  mind  for 
new  light,  suggesting  more  than  it  logically  asserts. 

The  phrase  is  more  striking  when  we  remember  that 
remarkable  peculiarity  of  the  Exodus  and  its  revela¬ 
tions  which  has  been  already  pointed  out.  Elsewhere 
God  appears  in  human  likeness.  To  Abraham  it  was 
so,  just  before,  and  to  Manoah  soon  afterwards.  Ezekiel 
saw  upon  the  likeness  of  the  throne  the  likeness  of  the 
appearance  of  a  man  (Ezek.  i.  2 6).  But  Israel  saw  no 
similitude,  only  he  heard  a  voice.  This  was  obviously 
a  safeguard  against  idolatry.  And  it  makes  the  words 
more  noteworthy,  "Jehovah  is  a  man  of  war,"  marching 
with  us,  our  champion,  into  the  battle.  And  we  know 
Him  as  our  fathers  knew  Him  not, — "Jehovah  is  His 
name." 

The  poem  next  describes  the  overthrow  of  the 
enemy :  the  heavy  plunge  of  men  in  armour  into  the 
deeps,  the  arm  of  the  Lord  dashing  them  in  pieces, 
His  "fire"  consuming  them,  while  the  blast  of  His 
nostrils  is  the  storm  which  "piles  up”  the  waters, 
solid  as  a  wall  of  ice,  "  congealed  in  the  heart  of  the 
sea."  Then  the  singers  exultantly  rehearse  the  short 
panting  eager  phrases,  full  of  greedy  expectation,  of 
the  enemy  breathless  in  pursuit — a  passage  well 
remembered  by  Deborah,  when  her  triumphant  song 
closed  by  an  insulting  repetition  of  the  vain  calcula¬ 
tions  of  the  mother  of  Sisera  and  "  her  wise  ladies." 

The  eleventh  verse  is  remarkable  as  being  the  first 
announcement  of  the  holiness  of  God.  "  Who  is  like 


XV.  1-22.] 


THE  SONG  OF  A/OSES. 


223 


unto  Thee,  glorious  in  holiness  ?  ”  And  what  does 
holiness  mean  ?  The  Hebrew  word  is  apparently 
suggestive  of  “  brightness/’  and  the  two  ideas  are 
coupled  by  Isaiah  (x.  17)  :  “The  Light  of  Israel  shall 
be  for  a  fire,  and  his  Holy  One  for  a  flame.”  There  is 
indeed  something  in  the  purity  of  light,  in  its  absolute 
immunity  from  stain — no  passive  cleanness,  as  of  the 
sand  upon  the  shore,  but  intense  and  vital — and  in  its 
remoteness  from  the  conditions  of  common  material 
substances,  that  well  expresses  and  typifies  the  lofty 
and  awful  quality  which  separates  holiness  from  mere 
virtue.  “  God  is  called  the  Holy  One  because  He  is 
altogether  pure,  the  clear  and  spotless  Light;  so  that 
in  the  idea  of  the  holiness  of  God  there  are  embodied 
the  absolute  moral  purity  and  perfection  of  the  Divine 
nature,  and  His  unclouded  glory  (Keil,  Pent.,  ii.  99). 
In  this  thought  there  is  already  involved  separation, 
a  lofty  remoteness. 

And  when  holiness  is  attributed  to  man,  it  never 
means  innocence,  nor  even  virtue,  merely  as  such.  It 
is  always  a  derived  attribute  :  it  is  reflected  upon  us, 
like  light  upon  our  planet ;  and  like  consecration,  it 
speaks  not  of  man  in  himself,  but  in  his  relation  to 
God.  It  expresses  a  kind  of  separation  to  God,  and 
thus  it  can  reach  to  lifeless  things  which  bear  a  true 
relation  to  the  Divine.  The  seventh  day  is  thus 
“  hallowed.”  It  is  the  very  name  of  the  “  Holy  Place,” 
the  “  Sanctuary.”  And  the  ground  where  Moses  was  to 
stand  unshod  beside  the  burning  bush  was  pronounced 
“holy,”  not  by  any  concession  to  human  weakness, 
but  by  the  direct  teaching  of  God.  Very  inseparable 
from  all  true  holiness  is  separation  from  what  is 
common  and  unclean.  Holy  men  may  be  involved  in 
the  duties  of  active  life ;  but  only  on  condition  that  in 


224 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


their  bosom  shall  be  some  inner  shrine,  whither  the 
clin  of  wordliness  never  penetrates,  and  where  the  lamp 
of  God  does  not  go  out. 

It  is  a  solemn  truth  that  a  kind  of  inverted  holiness 
is  known  to  Scripture.  Men  “  sanctify  themselves  ”  (it 
is  this  very  word) ,  “  and  purify  themselves  to  go  into 
the  gardens,  .  .  .  eating  swine’s  flesh  and  the  abomina¬ 
tion  and  the  mouse”  (Isa.  lxvi.  17).  The  same  word 
is  also  used  to  declare  that  the  whole  fruit  of  a  vine¬ 
yard  sown  with  two  kinds  of  fruit  shall  be  forfeited 
(Deut.  xxii.  9),  although  the  notion  there  is  of  some¬ 
thing  unnatural  and  therefore  interdicted,  which  notion 
is  carried  to  the  utmost  extreme  in  another  derivative 
from  the  same  root,  expressing  the  most  depraved  of 
human  beings. 

Just  so,  the  Greek  word  “anathema”  means  both 
“consecrated”  and  “marked  out  for  wrath”  (Luke 
xxi.  5  i  1  Cor.  xvi.  22  :  the  difference  in  form  is  insig¬ 
nificant.)  And  so  again  our  own  tongue  calls  the  saints 
“  devoted,”  and  speaks  of  the  “  devoted  ”  head  of  the 
doomed  sinner,  being  aware  that  there  is  a  “  separa¬ 
tion”  in  sin  as  really  as  in  purity.  The  gods  of  the 
heathen,  like  Jehovah,  claimed  an  appropriate  “holi¬ 
ness,”  sometimes  unspeakably  degraded.  They  too 
were  separated,  and  it  was  through  long  lines  of 
sphinxes,  and  many  successive  chambers,  that  the 
Egyptian  worshipper  attained  the  shrine  of  some  con¬ 
temptible  or  hateful  deity.  The  religion  which  does 
not  elevate  depresses.  But  the  holiness  of  Jehovah 
is  noble  as  that  of  light,  incapable  of  defilement. 
“  Who  among  the  gods  is  like  Thee  .  .  .  glorious 
in  holiness  ?  ”  And  Israel  soon  leaned  that  the 
worshipper  must  become  assimilated  to  his  Ideal  : 
“Ye  shall  be  holy  men  unto  Me”  (xxii.  31).  It  is 


XV.  22-27.] 


SHUR. 


225 


so  with  us.  Jesus  is  separated  from  sinners.  And 
we  are  to  go  forth  unto  Him  out  of  the  camp,  bearing 
His  reproach  (Heb.  vii.  26,  xiii.  13). 

The  remainder  of  the  song  is  remarkable  chiefly  for 
the  confidence  with  which  the  future  is  inferred  from 
the  past.  And  the  same  argument  runs  through  all 
Scripture.  As  Moses  sang,  “  Thou  shalt  bring  them 
in  and  plant  them  in  the  mountain  of  Thine  inherit¬ 
ance,”  because  u  Thou  stretchedst  out  Thy  right  hand, 
the  earth  *  swallowed  ”  their  enemies,  so  David  was 
sure  that  goodness  and  mercy  should  follow  him  all 
the  days  of  his  life,  because  God  was  already  leading 
him  in  green  pastures  and  beside  still  waters.  And 
so  St.  Paul,  knowing  in  Whom  he  had  believed,  was 
persuaded  that  He  was  able  to  keep  his  deposit  until 
that  day  (2  Tim.  i.  12). 

So  should  pardon  and  Scripture  and  the  means  of 
grace  reassure  every  doubting  heart ;  for  “  if  the  Lord 
were  pleased  to  kill  us,  He  would  not  have  .  .  . 
showed  us  all  these  things”  (Judg.  xiii.  23).  And  in 
theory,  and  in  good  hours,  we  confess  that  this  is  so. 
But  after  our  song  of  triumph,  if  we  come  upon  bitter 
waters  we  murmur ;  and  if  our  bread  fail,  we  expect 
only  to  die  in  the  wilderness. 

SHUR. 

XV.  22-7. 

From  the  Red  Sea  the  Israelites  marched  into  the 
wilderness  of  Shur — a  general  name,  of  Egyptian  origin, 
for  the  district  between  Egypt  and  Palestine,  of  which 
Etham,  given  as  their  route  in  Numbers  (xxxiii.  8),  is 

*  This  is  to  be  taken  literally ;  it  does  not  mean  the  waves,  but 
the  quicksands  in  which  they  “drave  heavily,”  and  which,  when 
steeped  in  the  returning  waters,  engulfed  them. 


IS 


226 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


a  subdivision.  The  rugged  way  led  over  stone  and 
sand,  with  little  vegetation  and  no  water.  And  the 
11 three  days’  journey”  to  Marah,  a  distance  of  thirty- 
three  miles,  was  their  first  experience  of  absolute  hard¬ 
ship,  for  not  even  the  curtain  of  miraculous  cloud  could 
prevent  them  from  suffering  keenly  by  heat  and  thirst. 

It  was  a  period  of  disillusion.  Fond  dreams  of  ease 
and  triumphant  progress,  with  every  trouble  miracu¬ 
lously  smoothed  away,  had  naturally  been  excited  by 
their  late  adventure.  Their  song  had  exulted  in  the 
prospect  that  their  enemies  should  melt  away,  and  be 
as  still  as  a  stone.  But  their  difficulties  did  not  melt 
away.  The  road  was  weary.  They  found  no  water. 
They  were  still  too  much  impressed  by  the  miracle  at 
the  Red  Sea,  and  by  the  mysterious  Presence  over¬ 
head,  for  open  complaining  to  be  heard  along  the  route  ; 
but  we  may  be  sure  that  reaction  had  set  in,  and  there 
was  many  a  sinking  heart,  as  the  dreary  route  stretched 
on  and  on,  and  they  realised  that,  however  romantic 
the  main  plan  of  their  journey,  the  details  might  still 
be  prosaic  and  exacting.  They  sang  praises  unto  Him. 
They  soon  forgat  His  works.  Aching  with  such  dis¬ 
appointments,  at  last  they  reached  the  waters  of  Marah, 
and  they  could  not  drink,  for  they  were  bitter. 

And  if  Marah  be  indeed  Huwara,  as  seems  to  be 
agreed,  the  waters  are  still  the  worst  in  all  the  district. 
It  was  when  the  relief,  so  confidently  expected,  failed, 
and  the  term  of  their  sufferings  appeared  to  be  indefi¬ 
nitely  prolonged,  that  their  self-control  gave  way,  and 
they  “  murmured  against  Moses,  saying,  What  shall  we 
drink  ?  ”  And  we  may  be  sure  that  wherever  discontent 
and  unbelief  are  working  secret  mischief  to  the  soul, 
some  event,  some  disappointment  or  temptation,  will 
find  the  weak  point,  and  the  favourable  moment  of 


XV.  22-27-] 


SHUR. 


227 


attack,  just  as  the  seeds  of  disease  find  out  the  morbid 
constitution,  and  assail  it. 

Now,  all  this  is  profoundly  instructive,  because  it  is 
true  to  the  universal  facts  of  human  nature.  When 
a  man  is  promoted  to  unexpected  rank,  or  suddenly 
becomes  rich,  or  reaches  any  other  unlooked-for  eleva¬ 
tion,  he  is  apt  to  forget  that  life  cannot,  in  any  position, 
be  a  romance  throughout,  a  long  thrill,  a  whole  song 
at  the  top  note  of  the  voice.  Affection  itself  has  a 
dangerous  moment,  when  two  united  lives  begin  to 
realise  that  even  their  union  cannot  banish  aches 
and  anxieties,  weariness  and  business  cares.  Well  for 
them  if  they  are  content  with  the  power  of  love  to 
sweeten  what  it  cannot  remove,  as  loyal  soldiers  gladly 
sacrifice  all  things  for  the  cause,  and  as  Israel  should 
have  been  proud  to  endure  forced  marches  under  the 
cloudy  banner  of  its  emancipating  God. 

As  neither  rank  nor  affection  exempts  men  from  the 
dust  and  tedium  of  life,  or  from  its  disappointments,  so 
neither  does  religion.  When  one  is  “  made  happy  ”  he 
expects  life  to  be  only  a  triumphal  procession  towards 
Paradise,  and  he  is  startled  when  a  now  for  a  season,  if 
need  be,  he  is  in  heaviness  through  manifold  tempta¬ 
tions.”  Yet  Christ  prayed  not  that  we  should  be  taken 
out  of  the  world.  We  are  bidden  to  endure  hardness 
as  good  soldiers,  and  to  run  with  patience  the  race  which 
is  set  before  us  ;  and  these  phrases  indicate  our  need 
of  the  very  qualities  wherein  Israel  failed.  As  yet  the 
people  murmured  not  ostensibly  against  God,  but  only 
against  Moses.  But  the  estrangement  of  their  hearts 
is  plain,  since  they  made  no  appeal  to  God  for  relief, 
but  assailed  His  agent  and  representative.  Yet  they 
had  not  because  they  asked  not,  and  relief  was  found 
when  Moses  cried  unto  the  Lord.  Their  leader  was 


228 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


i(  faithful  in  all  his  house”;  and  instead  of  upbraiding 
his  followers  with  their  ingratitude,  or  bewailing  the 
hard  lot  of  all  leaders  of  the  multitude,  whose  popularity 
neither  merit  nor  service  can  long  preserve  unclouded, 
he  was  content  to  look  for  sympathy  and  help  where 
we  too  may  find  it. 

We  read  that  the  Lord  showed  him  a  tree,  which 
when  he  had  cast  into  the  waters,  the  waters  were 
made  sweet.  In  this  we  discern  the  same  union  of 
Divine  grace  with  human  energy  and  use  of  means,  as 
in  all  medicine,  and  indeed  all  uses  of  the  divinely 
enlightened  intellect  of  man.  It  would  have  been  easy 
to  argue  that  the  waters  could  only  be  healed  by 
miracle,  and  if  God  wrought  a  miracle  what  need  was 
there  of  human  labour  ?  There  was  need  of  obedience, 
and  of  the  co-operation  of  the  human  will  with  the 
divine.  We  shall  see,  in  the  case  of  the  artificers  of 
the  tabernacle,  that  God  inspires  even  handicraftsmen 
as  well  as  theologians — being  indeed  the  universal 
Light,  the  Giver  of  all  good,  not  only  of  Bibles,  but  of 
rain  and  fruitful  seasons.  But  the  artisan  must  labour, 
and  the  farmer  improve  the  soil. 

Shall  we  say  with  the  fathers  that  the  tree  cast  into 
the  waters  represents  the  cross  of  Christ  ?  At  least  it 
is  a  type  of  the  sweetening  and  assuaging  influences 
of  religion — a  new  element,  entering  life,  and  as  well 
fitted  to  combine  with  it  as  medicinal  bark  with  water, 
making  all  wholesome  and  refreshing  to  the  disappointed 
wayfarer,  who  found  it  so  bitter  hitherto. 

The  Lord  was  not  content  with  removing  the 
grievance  of  the  hour;  He  drew  closer  the  bonds 
between  His  people  and  Himself,  to  guard  them  against 
another  transgression  of  the  kind :  u  there  He  made 
for  them  a  statute  and  an  ordinance,  and  there  He 


XV.  22*27-] 


SHUR. 


229 


proved  them.”  It  is  pure  assumption  to  pretend  that 
this  refers  to  another  account  of  the  giving  of  the 
Jewish  law,  inconsistent  with  that  in  the  twentieth 
chapter,  and  placed  at  Marah  instead  of  Sinai.*  It  is 
a  transaction  which  resembles  much  rather  the  promises 
given  (and  at  various  times,  although  confusion  and 
repetition  cannot  be  inferred)  to  Abraham  and  Jacob 
(Gen.  xii.  1-3,  xv.  I,  18-21,  xvii.  1-14,  xxii.  15-18, 
xxviii.  13-15,  xxxv.  10-12).  He  said,  “If  thou  wilt 
diligently  hearken  to  the  voice  of  the  Lord  thy  God, 
and  wilt  do  that  which  is  right  in  His  eyes,  and  wilt 
give  ear  to  His  commandments,  and  wilt  keep  all  His 
statutes,  I  will  put  none  of  the  diseases  upon  thee  which 
I  have  put  upon  the  Egyptians,  for  I  am  the  Lord 
which  healeth  thee.”  It  is  a  compact  of  obedient  trust 
on  one  side,  and  protection  on  the  other.  If  they  felt 
their  own  sinfulness,  it  asserted  that  He  who  had  just 
healed  the  waters  could  also  heal  their  hearts.  From 
the  connection  between  these  is  perhaps  derived  the 
comparison  between  human  hearts  and  a  fountain  of 
sweet  water  or  bitter  (Jas.  iii.  11). 

But  certainly  the  promised  protection  takes  an  un¬ 
expected  shape.  What  in  their  circumstances  leads 
to  this  specific  offer  of  exemption  from  certain  foul 
diseases — “  the  boil  of  Egypt,  and  the  emerods,  and  the 
scurvy,  and  the  itch,  whereof  thou  canst  not  be  healed  ” 
(Deut.  xxviii.  27)  ?  How  does  this  meet  the  case  ? 
Doubtless  by  reminding  them  that  there  are  better 
exemptions  than  from  hardship,  and  worse  evils  than 
privations.  If  they  do  not  realise  this  at  the  spiritual 
level,  at  least  they  can  appreciate  the  threat  that  “  He 
will  bring  upon  thee  again  all  the  diseases  of  Egypt 


Wellhausen,  Israel,  p.  439. 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


53° 

which  thou  wast  afraid  of"  (Deut.  xxviii.  60).  To  be 
even  a  luxurious  and  imperial  race,  but  infected  by 
repulsive  and  hopeless  ailments,  is  not  a  desirable 
alternative.  Now,  such  evils,  though  certainly  not 
in  each  individual,  yet  in  a  race,  are  the  punishments 
of  non-natural  conditions  of  life,  such  as  make  the 
blood  run  slowly  and  unhealthily,  and  charge  it  with 
impure  deposits.  It  was  God  who  put  them  upon  the 
Egyptians. 

If  Israel  would  follow  His  guidance,  and  accept  a 
somewhat  austere  destiny,  then  the  desert  air  and 
exercise,  and  even  its  privations,  would  become  the 
efficacious  means  for  their  exemption  from  the  scourges 
of  indulgence.  A  time  arrived  when  they  looked  back 
with  remorse  upon  crimes  which  forfeited  their  im¬ 
munity,  when  the  Lord  said,  “  I  have  sent  among  you 
the  pestilence  after  the  manner  of  Egypt;  your  young 
men  have  I  slain  with  the  sword  n  (Amos  iv.  io). 

But  it  is  a  significant  fact  that  at  this  day,  after 
eighteen  hundred  years  of  oppression,  hardship,  and 
persecution,  of  the  ghetto  and  the  old-clothes  trade,  the 
Hebrew  race  is  proverbially  exempt  from  repulsive 
and  contagious  disease.  They  also  11  certainly  do  enjoy 
immunity  from  the  ravages  of  cholera,  fever  and  small¬ 
pox  in  a  remarkable  degree.  Their  blood  seems  to  be 
in  a  different  condition  from  that  of  other  people.  .  .  . 
They  seem  less  receptive  of  disease  caused  by  blood 
poisoning  than  others”  {Journal  of  Victoria  Institute , 
xxi.  307).  Imperfect  as  was  their  obedience,  this 
covenant  at  least  has  been  literally  fulfilled  to  them. 

It  is  by  such  means  that  God  is  wont  to  reward 
His  children.  Most  commonly  the  seal  of  blessing  from 
the  skies  is  not  rich  fare,  but  bread  and  fish  by  the 
lake  side  with  the  blessing  of  Christ  upon  them ;  not 


XV.  22-27.] 


SHUR. 


231 


removal  from  the  desert,  but  a  closer  sense  of  the 
protection  and  acceptance  of  Heaven,  the  nearness  of  a 
loving  God,  and  with  this,  an  elevation  and  purification 
of  the  life,  and  of  the  body  as  well  as  of  the  soul. 
Not  in  vain  has  St.  Paul  written  “The  Lord  for  the  body.” 
Nor  was  there  ever  yet  a  race  of  men  who  accepted 
the  covenant  of  God,  and  lived  in  soberness,  temper¬ 
ance  and  chastity,  without  a  signal  improvement  of 
the  national  physique,  no  longer  unduly  stimulated  by 
passi<  n,  jaded  by  indulgence,  or  relaxed  by  the  satiety 
which  resembles  but  is  not  repose. 

From  Marah  and  its  agitations  there  was  a  journey 
of  but  a  few  hours  to  Elim,  with  its  twelve  fountains 
and  seventy  palm  trees — a  fair  oasis,  by  which  they 
encamped  and  rested,  while  their  flocks  spread  far  and 
wide  over  a  grassy  and  luxuriant  valley. 

The  picture  is  still  true  to  the  Christian  life,  with 
the  Palace  Beautiful  just  beyond  the  lions,  and  the 
Delectable  Mountains  next  after  Doubting  Castle. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


MURMURING  FOR  FOOD. 


xvi.  I -14, 


HE  Israelites  were  now  led  farther  away  from  all 


X  the  associations  of  their  accustomed  life.  From 
the  waters  and  the  palms  of  Elim  they  marched  deeper 
into  the  savage  recesses  of  the  desert,  haunted  by  fierce 
and  hostile  tribes,  such  as  presently  hung  upon  their 
rear-guard  and  cut  off  their  stragglers  (Deut.  xxv.  18). 
Nor  had  they  quite  emerged  from  the  shadow  of  their 
old  oppressions,  since  Egyptian  garrisons  were  scat¬ 
tered,  though  sparsely,  through  this  district,  in  which 
gems  and  copper  were  obtained.  Here,  cut  off  from 
all  natural  modes  of  sustenance,  the  hearts  of  the 
people  failed  them.  Such  is  the  frequent  experience 
of  renewed  souls,  when  privilege  and  joy  are  followed 
by  trouble  from  without  or  from  within,  and  the  peace 
of  God  is  broken  by  the  strife  of  tongues,  by  mental 
perplexities,  by  temptations,  by  physical  pain.  It  is 
quite  as  wonderful  that  paltry  disturbances  should  mar 
for  us  the  life  divine,  when  once  that  life  has  become 
a  realised  experience,  as  that  men  who  moved  under 
the  shadow  of  the  marvellous  cloud  could  be  agitated 
by  fear  for  their  supplies.  And  of  this  our  experience, 
what  befel  Israel  is  not  a  mere  type  or  symbol,  it  is  a 
case  in  point,  a  parallel  example.  For  it  also  meant  the 


xvi.  I- 14.] 


MURMURING  FOR  FOOD. 


233 


breaking-in  of  the  flesh  upon  the  spirit,  the  refusal 
of  fallen  nature  to  rise  above  earthly  wants  and 
cravings  even  in  the  light  of  trust  and  acceptance,  the 
self-assertion  of  the  baser  instincts,  and  the  sacrifice 
to  them  of  the  higher  life.  We  recognise  the  herd  of 
slaves,  from  whence  it  must  perplex  the  unbeliever 
to  remember  that  the  seed  of  immortal  heroism  and 
prophetic  insight  and  apostolic  service  was  yet  to  ripen, 
in  their  poor  desire,  if  they  must  perish,  to  perish  well 
fed  rather  than  emancipated  (ver.  3).  Most  people,  we 
may  fear,  would  choose  to  live  enslaved  rather  than 
to  die  free  men.  But  there  is  a  special  meanness  in 
their  regret,  since  die  they  must,  that  they  had  not 
died  satiated,  like  the  firstborn  whom  God  had  slain : 
“Would  that  we  had  died  by  the  hand  of  Jehovah  in 
the  land  of  Egypt,  when  we  sat  by  the  fleshpots  and 
when  we  ate  bread  to  the  full,  for  ye  have  brought  us 
forth  into  this  wilderness  to  kill  this  whole  assembly 
with  hunger."  And  to-day,  among  those  who  scorn 
them,  how  many  are  far  less  ambitious  of  dying  holy 
and  pure  than  rich,  famous  or  powerful,  having  glutted 
their  vanity  if  not  their  appetite.  In  the  sight  of 
angels  this  is  not  a  much  loftier  aim  ;  and  the  apostle 
reckoned  among  the  works  of  the  flesh,  emulation  as 
well  as  drunkenness  (Gal.  v.  19-21). 

Tertullian  draws  a  striking  contrast  between  Israel, 
just  now  baptized  into  Moses,  but  caring  more  for 
appetite  than  for  God,  and  Christ,  after  His  baptism, 
also  in  the  desert,  fasting  forty  days.  "  The  Lord  figura¬ 
tively  retorted  upon  Israel  His  reproach  ”  ( Baptism ,  xx.) 

We  are  not  to  suppose  that  but  for  their  complaining 
God  would  have  suffered  them  to  hunger,  although 
Moses  declared  that  the  reason  why  flesh  should  be 
given  to  them  in  the  evening,  and  in  the  morning  bread 


234 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


to  the  full,  is  u  for  that  the  Lord  heareth  your  murmur- 
ings.”  But  there  would  have  been  some  difference 
in  the  time  of  the  grant,  to  ripen  their  faith,  some 
more  direct  manifestation  of  His  grace,  to  reward  their 
patience,  if  unbelief  had  not  precipitated  His  design. 
Thus  the  disciples,  when  they  awakened  Jesus  in  the 
storm,  received  the  rescue  for  which  they  clamoured, 
but  forfeited  some  higher  experience  which  would 
have  crowned  a  serener  confidence :  u  Wherefore  did 
ye  doubt  ?  ”  Israel  receives  what  is  best  in  the  circum¬ 
stances,  rather  than  the  ideal  best,  now  made  unsuitable 
by  their  impatience  and  infidelity.  But  while  the  Lord 
discontinued  the  test  of  need  and  penury,  which  had 
proved  to  be  too  severe  a  discipline,  He  substituted 
the  test  of  fulness.  For  we  read  that  the  removal  of 
their  suspense  and  anxiety  by  the  gift  of  manna  from 
heaven  was  u  to  prove  them  whether  they  will  walk  in 
My  laws  or  no  ”  (ver.  4).  And  in  so  doing  it  was  seen 
that  worldly  and  unthankful  natures  are  not  to  be 
satisfied ;  that  the  disloyal  at  heart  will  complain, 
however  favoured.  For  11  the  children  of  Israel  wept 
again  and  said,  Who  will  give  us  flesh  to  eat  ?  We 
remember  the  fish  which  we  did  eat  in  Egypt  for 
nought,  the  cucumbers  and  the  melons  and  the  leeks 
and  the  onions  and  the  garlick  :  but  now  our  soul  is 
dried  away ;  there  is  nothing  at  all :  we  have  nought 
save  this  manna  to  look  to"  (Num.  xi.  4-6).  Onions 
and  garlick  were  more  satisfactory  to  gross  appetites 
than  angels’  food. 

At  this  point  we  learn  that  what  is  called  prosperity 
may  indeed  be  a  result  of  spiritual  failure;  that  God 
may  sometimes  abstain  from  strong  measures  with  a 
soul  because  what  ought  to  mould  would  only  crush ; 
and  may  grant  them  their  hearts’  lust,  yet  send  lean- 


xvi.  1-14.3 


MURMURING  FOR  FOOD. 


235 


ness  withal  into  their  souls.  Perhaps  we  are  allowed 
to  be  comfortable  because  we  are  unfit  to  be  heroic. 

And  we  also  learn,  when  prosperous,  to  remember 
that  plenty,  equally  with  want,  has  its  moral  aspect. 
The  Lord  tries  fortunate  men,  whether  they  will  be 
grateful  and  obedient,  trusting  in  Him  and  not  in 
uncertain  riches,  or  whether  they  will  forget  Him  who 
has  done  so  great  things  for  them,  and  so  perish  in 
calm  weather — 

“  Like  ships  that  have  gone  down  at  sea 
When  heaven  was  all  tranquillity.” 

There  is  an  experiment  being  tried  upon  the  soul, 
curious,  slow,  little-suspected,  but  incessant,  in  the 
giving  of  daily  bread. 

In  promising  relief,  God  required  of  them  obedience 
and  self-control.  They  were  to  respect  the  Sabbath, 
and  make  provision  in  advance  for  its  requirements. 
And  this  direction,  given  before  the  Mount  of  the  Lord 
wras  reached,  has  an  important  bearing  upon  the  question 
whether  the  Fourth  Commandment  was  the  first 
institution  of  a  holy  day — whether,  except  as  a  Church 
ordinance,  the  duty  of  sabbath-keeping  has  no  support 
beyond  the  ceremonial  law.  “For  that  the  Lord  hath 
(already)  given  you  the  Sabbath,  therefore  He  giveth 
you  on  the  sixth  day  the  bread  of  two  days”  (ver.  29). 

While  conveying  the  promise  of  relief,  Moses  and 
Aaron  rebuked  the  people,  whose  murmurs  against 
them  were  in  reality  murmurs  against  God,  since  they 
were  but  His  agents,  and  He  had  been  visibly  their 
Leader.  And  the  same  rebuke  applies,  for  exa:  tly  the 
same  reason,  to  many  a  modern  complaint  against  the 
weather,  against  what  people  call  their  “luck,”  against 
a  thousand  provoking  things  in  which  the  only  possible 


236 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


provocation  must  come  directly  from  heaven.  It  is 
because  our  religion  is  so  shallow,  and  our  conscious¬ 
ness  of  God  in  His  world  so  dim  and  rudimentary, 
that  we  utter  such  complaints  idly,  to  relieve  our 
feelings,  and  hear  them  spoken  without  a  shock. 

Such  dulness  is  not  to  be  removed  by  sounder  views 
of  doctrine,  but  by  a  more  vivid  realisation  of  God. 
The  Israelites  knew  by  what  hand  they  should  have 
fallen  if  they  had  died  in  Egypt  ;  yet  in  fact  they  forgot 
their  true  Captain,  and  upbraided  their  mortal  leaders. 
So  do  we  confess  that  afflictions  arise  not  out  of  the 
ground,  yet  lose  the  impress  of  divinity  upon  our  daily 
lives,  while  we  ought,  like  Moses,  to  “  endure  as  seeing 
Him  who  is  invisible." 

As  our  Lord  was  in  the  habit  of  asking  for  some 
confession,  or  demanding  some  small  co-operation  from 
those  He  was  about  to  bless,  so  the  smoking  flax  of 
Hebrew  faith  is  tended  :  it  is  a  promise,  and  not  the 
actual  relief,  which  calms  them.  There  is  a  curious 
difference  in  the  manner  of  the  communications  now 
made  to  the  people.  First  of  all  the;  two  brothers  unite 
their  energies  to  hush  their  outcries:  “At  evening  ye 
shall  know  that  Jehovah  is  your  leader  from  Egypt,  and 
in  the  morning  ye  shall  behold  His  glory;  and  what 
are  we,  that  ye  murmur  against  us  ? "  Then  Moses 
affirms,  with  all  the  energy  of  his  chieftainship,  that  in 
the  evening  they  shall  eat  flesh,  and  in  the  morning 
bread  to  the  full.  Again  he  asks  them  “What  are  we  ?" 
and  more  sternly  and  directly  charges  them  with  mur¬ 
muring  against  Jehovah.  And  this  is  a  good  example 
of  the  true  meaning  of  his  “  meekness."  He  is  fiery 
enough,  but  not  for  his  own  greatness ;  rather  because 
he  feels  his  littleness,  and  that  the  offence  is  entirely 
against  God,  does  he  resent  their  conduct ;  absence  of 


xvi.  I-14  ] 


MURMURING  FOR  FOOD. 


237 


self-assertion  is  his  “meekness,”  and  thus  we  read  of  it 
when  Miriam  and  Aaron  spake  against  him,  declaring 
that  they  w7ere  commissioned  as  well  as  he  (Num. 
xii.  3).  Fin alfy,  when  order  was  restored,  and  some 
mysterious  manifestation  was  at  hand,  he  resumed  the 
solemn  and  formal  usage  of  conveying  his  orders 
through  his  brother,  and  in  cold,  compact,  impressive 
words,  said  unto  Aaron,  “  Say  unto  all  the  congregation 
of  the  children  of  Israel,  Come  near  before  the  Lord, 
for  He  hath  heard  your  murmurings.”  All  this  is  very 
dignified  and  natural.  And  so  is — what  after  ages 
could  scarcely  have  invented — the  impressive  reticence 
of  what  follow’s.  “They  looked  toward  the  wilder¬ 
ness,  and  behold,  the  glory  of  the  Lord  appeared  in 
the  cloud.” 

Were  they  not  then  intended  to  “  come  near”?  and 
was  it  as  they  turned  their  faces  to  draw  nigh  that  the 
Vision  revealed  itself  and  stopped  them  ?  And  what 
was  the  untold  sight  which  they  beheld  ?  The  narra¬ 
tive  belongs  to  a  primitive  age  ;  it  is  quite  unlike  the 
elaborate  symbolisms  of  Ezekiel  and  Daniel,  or  even  of 
Isaiah,  but  yet  this  undescribed,  mystic  and  solitary 
glory  is  not  less  sublime  than  the-  train  which  covered 
the  Temple-floor,  while,  hovering  above  it,  reverent 
seraphim  veiled  their  faces  and  their  feet,  or  the  terrible 
crystal  and  the  wheels  of  dreadful  height,  or  the  throne 
of  flame  whence  issued  a  fiery  stream,  and  before  which 
thousands  of  thousands  and  myriads  of  myriads  stood 
(Isa.  vi.  2;  Ezek.  i.  22,  18;  Dan.  vii.  9,  10).  But  the 
point  to  observe  is  that  it  is  different,  more  primitive, 
an  undefined  and  lonety  vision  of  awre  wrell  fitted  for 
the  desert  wilds  and  for  the  gaze  of  men  whose  hearts 
must  not  be  misled  by  the  likeness  of  anything  in  heaven 
or  earth  ;  the  glory  of  the  Lord  appearing  in  the  cloud 


2^8 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


(most  probably,  but  not  of  necessity,  the  cloud  which 
guided  them),  and  in  the  direction  whence  they  were 
so  fain  to  turn  away. 

No  later  inventor  would  have  known  how  to  say 
so  little,  much  less  to  make  that  little  harmonise  so 
exactly  with  the  lessons  meant  to  be  suggested  by 
the  wild  and  solemn  solitudes  into  w7hich  they  were 
now  plunged. 

And  now  the  Lord  Himself  repeats  the  promise  of 
relief,  but  first  solemnly  announces  that  He  is  not 
heedless  of  their  ill-behaviour  while  He  tolerates  it. 
The  question  is  suggested,  although  not  asked,  How 
long  will  His  forbearance  last  ? 

Well  for  them  if  they  learn  the  lesson,  and  “know 
that  I  am  Jehovah  your  God,"  mindful  of  their  needs, 
entitled  to  their  fealt}^.  In  the  evening,  therefore, 
came  a  flight  of  quails ;  and  in  the  morning  they  found 
a  small  round  thing,  small  as  the  hoar-frost,  upon  the 
ground. 


MANNA. 
xvi.  15-36. 

The  manna  which  miraculously  supplied  the  wants 
of  Israel  was  to  them  an  utterly  strange  food,  the  use 
of  which  they  had  to  learn.  Thus  it  was  another 
means  of  severing  their  habitual  course  of  life  and 
association  of  ideas  from  their  degraded  past.  And 
while  we  may  not  press  too  far  the  assertion  that 
it  was  the  “corn  of  heaven”  and  “angels'  food” 
(i.e.  “the  bread  of  the  mighty” — Psalm  lxxviii.  24-5, 
R.V.),  yet  the  narrative  shows,  even  without  help 
from  later  scriptures,  that  it  was  calculated  to  sus¬ 
tain  their  energies  and  yet  to  leave  their  appetites 
unstimulated  and  unpampered.  For  they  were  now 


xvi.  15-36.] 


MANNA. 


239 


called  to  purer  joys  than  those  of  the  senses — to  liberty, 
a  divine  vocation,  the  presence  of  God,  the  revelation 
of  His  law  and  the  unfolding  of  His  purposes.  Failing 
to  rise  to  these  heights,  they  fell  far,  murmured  again, 
and  perished  by  the  destroyer,  not  merely  to  avenge 
the  petulance  of  an  hour,  but  for  all  that  it  betrayed, 
for  treason  to  their  vocation  and  radical  inability  to 
even  comprehend  its  meaning.  In  the  language  of 
modern  science,  it  answered  to  Nature's  rejection  of 
the  unfit. 

Their  calling  was  thus,  though  under  very  different 
forms,  that  which  the  apostles  found  so  hard,  yet  did 
not  quite  refuse :  it  was  to  mind  the  things  of  God  and 
not  the  things  of  men. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  manna  of  the  Israelites 
bore  some  resemblance  to  a  natural  product  of  the 
wilderness,  still  exuded  by  certain  plants  during  the 
coolness  of  the  night,  and  formerly  more  plentiful  than 
now,  when  all  vegetation  has  been  ruthlessly  swept 
away  by  the  Bedouin.  But  the  differences  are  much 
greater  than  the  resemblance.  The  natural  product  is 
a  drug,  and  not  a  food ;  it  is  gathered  only  during 
some  weeks  of  summer;  it  is  not  liable  to  speedy  cor¬ 
ruption,  nor  could  there  be  any  reason  for  preserving 
a  specimen  of  this  common  product  in  the  ark ;  it 
could  not  have  sufficed,  however  aided  by  their  herds 
and  flocks,  to  feed  one  in  a  hundred  of  the  Hebrew 
multitudes,  even  during  the  season  of  its  production ; 
nor  could  it  have  ceased  on  the  same  day  when  they 
ate  the  first  ripe  corn  of  Canaan. 

And  yet  the  resemblance  is  suggestive.  Unbelievers 
find,  in  the  links  which  connect  most  of  our  Scripture 
miracles  with  nature,  in  the  undefined  and  gradual 
transition  from  one  to  the  other,  as  from  a  temperate 


240 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


day  to  night,  an  excuse  for  denying  that  they  are 
miraculous  at  all.  But  the  instructed  believer  finds 
a  confirmation  of  his  faith.  He  reflects  that  when 
Fancy  begins  to  toy  with  the  supernatural,  she  spurns 
nature  from  her  :  the  trammels  under  which  she  has 
long  chafed  are  hateful  to  her,  and  she  flies  from  them 
to  the  utmost  extreme. 

It  could  not  be  thus  with  Him  by  whom  the  system 
of  the  world  was  framed.  He  will  not  wantonly  inter¬ 
fere  with  His  own  plan.  He  will  regard  nature  as 
an  elastic  band  to  stretch,  rather  than  as  a  chain  to 
break.  If  He  will  multiply  food,  in  the  New  Testament, 
that  is  no  reason  why  His  disciples  should  fare  more 
delicately  than  Providence  intended  for  them :  they 
shall  still  eat  barley  loaves!  and  fish.  And  so  the 
winds  help  to  overthrow  Pharaoh  and  to  bring  the 
quails  ;  and  when  a  new  thing  has  to  be  created,  it 
approaches  in  its  general  idea  to  one  of  the  few  natural 
products  of  that  inhospitable  region. 

Now  let  it  be  supposed  for  a  moment  that  the  supply 
of  manna  had  never  ceased,  so  that  until  this  day 
men  could  every  morning  gather  a  day's  ration  off  the 
ground.  Such  continuance  of  the  provision  would  not 
make  it  any  the  less  a  gift  ;  but  only  a  more  lavish 
boon.  And  yet  it  would  clearly  cease  to  be  regarded 
as  miraculous,  an  exception  to  the  course  of  nature, 
miscalled  her  “  laws,"  since  men  do  strive  to  subvert 
the  miracle  by  representing  that  such  manna,  however 
scantily,  may  still  be  found.  And  this  may  expose 
the  folly  of  a  wish,  probably  sometimes  felt  by  all  men, 
that  some  miracle  had  actually  been  perpetuated,  so 
that  we  could  strengthen  our  faith  at  pleasure  by  look¬ 
ing  upon  an  exhibition  of  divine  power.  In  truth,  no 
marvel  could  excel  that  which  annually  multiplies  the 


xvi.  15-36.] 


MANNA. 


241 


corn  beneath  the  clod,  and  by  the  process  of  decay  in 
springtime  feeds  the  world  in  autumn.  Only  its  steady 
recurrence  throws  a  veil  over  our  eyes ;  and  it  is  a 
vain  conceit  that  the  same  web  would  not  be  woven 
by  use  between  man  and  the  Worker  of  any  other 
marvel  that  was  perpetuated.  Already  the  earth  is  full 
of  the  goodness  of  the  Lord,  for  all  who  have  eyes  to  see. 

It  is  also  to  be  observed  that  the  manna  was  not 
given  to  teach  the  people  sloth.  They  were  obliged  to 
gather  it  early,  before  the  sun  was  hot.  They  had  still 
to  endure  weary  marches,  and  the  care  of  their  flocks 
and  herds. 

And,  in  curious  harmony  with  the  manner  of  all  the 
gifts  of  nature,  the  manna  sent  from  heaven  had  yet 
to  be  prepared  by  man  :  11  bake  that  which  ye  will  bake, 
and  seethe  that  which  ye  will  seethe.’'  Thus  God,  by 
natural  means  and  by  the  sweat  of  our  brow,  gives  us 
our  daily  bread ;  and  all  knowledge,  art  and  culture  are 
His  gifts,  although  elaborated  by  the  brain  and  heart 
of  generations  whom  He  taught. 

Moreover,  there  was  a  protest  against  the  grasping, 
unbelieving  temper  which  cannot  trust  God  with  to¬ 
morrow,  but  longs  to  have  much  goods  laid  up.  That 
is  the  temper  which  forfeits  the  smile  of  God,  and 
grinds  the  faces  of  the  poor,  to  make  an  ignoble 
“  provision  ”  for  the  future.  How  often,  since  the  time 
of  Moses,  has  the  unblessed  accumulation  become 
hateful !  How  often,  since  the  time  of  St.  James,  the 
rust  of  such  possession  has  eaten  the  flesh  like  fire  ! 
Men  would  be  far  more  generous,  the  difference  between 
wealth  and  poverty  would  be  less  portentous,  and  the 
resources  of  religion  and  charity  less  crippled,  if  we 
lived  in  the  spirit  of  the  Lord's  prayer,  desirous  of  the 
advance  of  the  kingdom,  but  not  asking  to  be  given 

1 6 


242 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


to-morrow’s  bread  until  to-morrow.  That  lesson  was 
taught  by  the  manner  of  the  dispensation  of  the 
manna,  but  the  covetousness  of  Israel  would  not  learn 
it.  The  people  actually  strove  to  be  dishonest  in  their 
enjoyment  of  a  miracle.  It  is  no  wonder  that  Moses 
was  wroth  with  them. 

Among  the  strange  properties  of  their  supernatural 
food  not  the  least  curious  was  this :  that  when  they 
came  to  measure  what  they  had  collected,  and  compare 
it  with  what  Moses  had  bidden,*  the  most  eager  and 
able-bodied  had  nothing  over,  and  the  feeblest  had 
no  lack.  Every  real  worker  was  supplied,  and  none 
was  glutted.  This  result  is  apparently  miraculous. 
St.  Paul’s  use  of  it  does  not,  as  some  have  supposed, 
represent  it  as  a  result  of  Hebrew  benevolence,  sharing 
with  the  weak  the  more  abundant  supplies  of  the  strong  : 
the  miracle  is  not  cited  as  an  example  of  charity,  but 
of  that  practical  equality,  divinely  approved,  which 
Christian  charity  should  reproduce ;  the  Christian 
Church  is  bidden  to  do  voluntarily  what  was  done  by 
miracle  in  the  wilderness :  “  your  abundance  being  a 
supply  at  this  present  time  for  their  want,  that  their 
abundance  also  may  become  a  supply  for  your  want, 
that  there  may  be  equality;  as  it  is  written,  He  that 
gathered  much  had  nothing  over,  and  he  that  gathered 
little  had  no  lack”  (2  Cor.  viii.  15). 

It  is  quite  in  vain  to  appeal  to  this  passage  in  favour 
of  socialistic  theories.  In  the  hist  place  it  applies  only 
to  the  necessities  of  existence  ;  and  even  granting  that 


*  The  “  omer  ”  of  this  passage  is  not  mentioned  elsewhere  in 
Scripture  :  it  is  known  to  have  been  the  one-hundredth  part  of  the 
homer  with  which  careless  readers  sometimes  confuse  it,  and  its 
capacity  is  variously  estimated,  from  somewhat  under  half  a  gallon 
to  somewhat  abeve  three-quarters. 


xvi.  15-36.] 


MANNA. 


243 


the  state  should  enforce  the  principle  to  which  it  points, 
the  duty  would  not  extend  beyond  a  liberal  poor  rate. 
When  contributions  were  afterwards  demanded  for 
the  sanctuary,  there  is  no  trace  of  a  dead  level  in  their 
resources  :  the  rulers  gave  the  gems  and  spices  and 
oil,  some  brought  gold,  with  some  were  found  blue  and 
linen  and  skins,  and  others  had  acacia-wood  to  offer 
(xxxv.  22-4). 

In  the  second  place,  this  arrangement  was  only 
temporary ;  and  while  the  soil  of  Canaan  wras  dis¬ 
tinctly  claimed  for  the  Lord,  the  enjoyment  of  it  by 
individuals  was  secured,  and  perpetuated  in  their 
families,  by  stringent  legislation.  Now,  land  is  the 
kind  of  property  which  socialists  most  vehemently 
assail ;  but  persons  who  appeal  to  Exodus  must 
submit  to  the  authority  of  Judges. 

Socialism,  therefore,  and  its  coercive  measures,  find 
no  more  real  sanction  here  than  in  the  Church  of  Jeru¬ 
salem,  where  the  property  of  Ananias  was  his  own,  and 
the  price  of  it  in  his  own  power.  But  yet  it  is  highly 
significant  that  in  both  Testaments,  as  the  Church  of 
God  starts  upon  its  career,  an  example  should  be  given 
of  the  effacing  of  inequalities,  in  the  one  case  by  miracle, 
in  the  other  by  such  a  voluntary  movement  as  best 
becomes  the  gospel.  Is  not  such  a  movement,  large  and 
free,  the  true  remedy  for  our  modern  social  distractions 
and  calamities  ?  Would  it  not  be  wise  and  Christ-like 
for  the  rich  to  give,  as  St.  Paul  taught  the  Corinthians 
to  give,  what  the  law  could  never  wisely  exact  from 
them  ?  Would  not  self-denial,  on  a  scale  to  imply 
real  sacrifice,  and  fulfilling  in  spirit  rather  than  letter 
the  apostle’s  aspiration  for  “  equality,”  secure  in  return 
the  enthusiastic  adhesion  to  the  rights  of  property  of 
all  that  is  best  and  noblest  among  the  poor  ? 


244 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


When  will  the  world,  or  even  the  Church,  awaken 
to  the  great  truth  that  our  politics  also  need  to  be 
steeped  in  Christian  .feeling — that  humanity  requires 
not  a  revolution  but  a  pentecost — that  a  millennium 
cannot  be  enacted,  but  will  dawn  whenever  human 
bosoms  are  emptied  of  selfishness  and  lust,  and  filled 
with  brotherly  kindness  and  compassion  ?  Such,  and 
no  more,  was  the  socialism  which  St.  Paul  deduced 
from  the  equality  in  the  supply  of  manna. 

SPIRITUAL  MEAT. 
xvi.  15-36. 

Since  the  journey  of  Israel  is  throughout  full  of 
sacred  meaning,  no  one  can  fail  to  discern  a  mystery 
in  the  silent  ceaseless  daily  miracle  of  bread-giving. 
But  we  are  not  left  to  our  conjectures.  St.  Paul  calls 
manna  "  spiritual  meat,”  not  because  it  nourished  the 
higher  life  (for  the  eaters  of  it  murmured  for  flesh, 
and  were  not  estranged  from  their  lust),  but  because 
it  answered  to  realities  of  the  spiritual  world  (1  Cor. 
x.  3).  And  Christ  Himself  said,  “It  was  not  Moses 
that  gave  you  the  bread  out  of  heaven,  but  My  Father 
giveth  you  the  true  Bread  from  heaven,”  making  manna 
the  type  of  sustenance  which  the  soul  needs  in  the 
wilderness,  and  which  only  God  can  give  (John  vi.  32). 

We  note  the  time  of  its  bestowal.  The  soul  has 
come  forth  out  of  its  bondage.  Perhaps  it  imagines 
that  emancipation  is  enough  :  all  is  w7on  when  its 
chains  are  broken  :  there  is  to  be  no  interval  between 
the  Egypt  of  sin  and  the  Promised  Land  of  milk  and 
honey  and  repose.  Instead  of  this  serene  attainment, 
it  finds  that  the  soul  requires  to  be  fed,  and  no  food 
is  to  be  seen,  but  only  a  wilderness  of  scorching 


XVI.  15-36.] 


SPIRITUAL  MEAT. 


245 


heat,  dry  sand,  vacancy,  and  hunger.  Old  things 
have  passed  away,  but  it  is  not  yet  realised  that 
all  things  have  become  new.  Religion  threatens  to 
become  a  vast  system  for  the  removal  of  accustomed 
indulgences  and  enjoyments,  but  where  is  the  recom¬ 
pense  for  all  that  it  forbids  ?  The  soul  cries  out 
for  food :  well  for  it  if  the  cry  be  not  faithless,  noi 
spoken  to  earthly  chiefs  alone ! 

There  is  a  noteworthy  distinction  between  the  gift 
of  manna  and  every  other  recorded  miracle  of  susten¬ 
ance.  In  Eden  the  fruit  of  immortality  was  ripening 
upon  an  earthly  tree.  The  widow  of  Zarephath  was 
fed  from  her  own  stores.  The  ravens  bore  to  Elijah 
ordinary  bread  and  flesh ;  and  if  an  angel  fed  him,  it 
was  with  a  cake  baken  upon  coals.  Christ  Himself 
was  content  to  multiply  common  bread  and  fish,  and 
even  after  His  resurrection  gave  His  apostles  the 
fare  to  which  they  were  accustomed.  Thus  they 
learned  that  the  divine  life  must  be  led  amid  the 
ordinary  conditions  of  mortality.  Even  the  incarnation 
of  Deity  was  wrought  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh. 
But  yet  the  incarnation  was  the  bringing  of  a  new 
life,  a  strange  and  unknown  energy,  to  man. 

And  here,  almost  at  the  beginning  of  revelation,  is 
typified,  not  the  homely  conditions  of  the  inner  life,  but 
its  unearthly  nature  and  essence.  Here  is  no  multi¬ 
plication  of  their  own  stores,  no  gift,  like  the  quails, 
of  such  meat  as  they  were  wont  to  gather.  They 
asked  “  What  is  it  ?  ”  And  this  teaches  the  Christian 
that  his  sustenance  is  not  of  this  world.  They  were  fed 
u  with  manna  which  they  knew  not  ...  to  make  them 
know  that  man  doth  not  live  by  bread  only,  but  by 
every  word  that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God 
doth  man  live  ”  (Deut.  viii.  3).  The  root  of  worldliness 


246 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


is  not  in  this  indulgence  or  that,  in  gay  clothing  or  an 
active  career ;  but  in  the  soul’s  endeavour  to  draw  its 
nourishment  from  things  below.  And  spirituality  be¬ 
longs  not  to  an  uncouth  vocabulary,  nor  to  the  robes  of 
any  confraternity,  to  rigid  rules  or  austere  deportment ; 
it  is  the  blessedness  of  a  life  nourished  upon  the 
bread  of  heaven,  and  doomed  to  starve  if  that  bread  be 
not  bestowed.  Let  not  the  wealthy  find  an  insuper¬ 
able  bar  to  spirituality  in  his  condition,  nor  the  poor 
suppose  that  indigence  cannot  have  its  treasure  upon 
earth ;  but  let  each  man  ask  whence  come  his  most 
real  and  practical  impulses  and  energies  upon  life’s 
journey.  If  these  flow  from  even  the  purest  earthly 
source — love  of  wife  or  child,  anything  else  than  com¬ 
munion  with  the  Father  of  spirits,  this  is  not  the  bread 
of  life,  and  can  no  more  nourish  a  pilgrim  towards 
eternity  than  the  husks  which  swine  eat. 

There  is  no  mistaking  the  doctrine  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  as  to  what  this  bread  may  be.  By  prayer  and 
faith,  by  ordinances  and  sacraments  rightly  used,  the 
manna  may  be  gathered  ;  but  Jesus  Himself  is  the  Bread 
of  life,  His  Flesh  is  meat  indeed  and  His  Blood  is  drink 
indeed,  and  He  gives  His  Flesh  for  the  life  of  the  world. 
Christ  is  the  Vine,  and  we  are  the  branches,  fruitful 
only  by  the  sap  which  flows  from  Him.  As  there 
are  diseases  which  cannot  be  overcome  by  powerful 
drugs,  but  by  a  generous  and  wholesome  dietary,  so  is 
it  with  the  diseases  of  the  soul — pride,  anger,  selfish¬ 
ness,  falsehood,  lust.  As  the  curse  of  sin  is  removed 
by  the  faith  which  appropriates  pardon,  so  its  power 
is  broken  by  the  steady  personal  acceptance  of  Christ ; 
and  our  Bread  and  Wine  are  His  new  humanity,  given 
to  us,  until  He  becomes  the  second  Father  of  the  race, 
which  is  begotten  again  in  Him.  An  easy  temper  is 


xvi.  15-36.] 


SPIRITUAL  MEAT 


247 


not  Christian  meekness  ;  dislike  to  witness  pain  is  not 
Christian  love.  All  our  goodness  must  strike  root 
deeper  than  in  the  sensibilities,  must  be  nourished  by 
the  communication  to  us  of  the  mind  which  was  in 
Christ  Jesus. 

And  this  food  is  universally  given,  and  universally 
suitable.  The  strong  and  the  weak,  the  aged  chieftain 
and  little  children,  ate  and  were  nourished.  No  stern 
decree  excluded  any  member  of  the  visible  Church  in 
the  wilderness  from  sharing  the  bread  from  heaven  : 
they  did  eat  the  same  spiritual  meat,  provided  only 
that  they  gathered  it.  Their  part  was  to  be  in 
earnest  in  accepting,  and  so  is  ours ;  but  if  we  fail, 
whom  shall  we  blame  except  ourselves  ?  In  the 
mystery  of  its  origin,  in  the  silent  and  secret  mode  of 
its  descent  from  above,  in  the  constancy  of  its  bestowal, 
and  in  its  suitability  for  all  the  camp,  for  Moses  and 
the  youngest  child,  the  manna  prefigured  Christ. 

Every  day  a  fresh  supply  had  to  be  laid  up,  and 
nothing  could  be  held  over  from  the  largest  hoard.  So 
it  is  with  us :  we  must  give  ourselves  to  Christ  for 
ever,  but  we  must  ask  Him  daily  to  give  Himself  to 
us.  The  richest  experience,  the  purest  aspiration,  the 
humblest  self-abandonment  that  was  ever  felt,  could 
not  reach  forward  to  supply  the  morrow.  Past  graces 
will  become  loathsome  if  used  instead  of  present 
supplies  from  heaven.  And  the  secret  of  many  a 
scandalous  fall  is  that  the  unhappy  soul  grew  self- 
confident  :  unlike  St.  Paul,  he  reckoned  that  he  had 
already  attained;  and  thereupon  the  graces  in  which 
he  trusted  became  corrupt  and  vile. 

The  constant  supply  was  not  more  needful  than  it 
was  abundant.  The  manna  lay  all  around  the  camp  : 
the  Bread  of  Life  is  He  who  stands  at  our  door  and 


248 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


knocks.  Alas  for  those  who  murmur  for  grosser  in¬ 
dulgences  !  Israel  demanded  and  obtained  them ;  but 
while  the  flesh  was  in  their  nostrils  the  angel  of  the 
Lord  went  forth  and  smote  them.  Is  there  no  plague 
any  longer  for  the  perverse  ?  What  are  the  discords 
that  convulse  families,  the  uncurbed  passions  to  which 
nothing  is  sacred,  the  jaded  appetite  and  weary  discon¬ 
tent  which  hates  the  world  even  as  it  hates  itself? 
what  but  the  judgment  of  God  upon  those  who  despise 
His  provision,  and  must  needs  gratify  themselves  ? 
Be  it  our  happiness,  as  it  is  our  duty,  to  trust  Him  to 
prepare  our  table  before  us,  while  He  leads  us  to  His 
Holy  Land. 

The  Lord  of  the  Sabbath  already  taught  His  people 
to  respect  His  day.  Upon  it  no  manna  fell;  and  we 
shall  hereafter  see  the  bearing  of  this  incident  upon 
the  question  whether  the  Sabbath  is  only  an  ordinance 
of  Judaism.  Meanwhile  they  wTho  went  out  to  gather 
had  a  sharp  lesson  in  the  difference  between  faith, 
which  expects  what  God  has  promised,  and  presump¬ 
tion,  which  hopes  not  to  lose  much  by  disobeying  Him. 

Lastly,  an  omer  of  manna  was  to  be  kept  throughout 
all  generations,  before  the  Testimony.  Grateful  remem¬ 
brance  of  past  mercies,  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual, 
was  to  connect  itself  with  the  deepest  and  most  awful 
mysteries  of  religion.  So  let  it  be  with  us.  The  bitter 
proverb  that  eaten  bread  is  soon  forgotten  must  never 
be  true  of  the  Christian.  He  is  to  remember  all  the 
way  that  the  Lord  his  God  hath  led  him.  He  is  bidden 
to  “  forget  not  all  His  benefits,  Who  forgiveth  all  thine 
iniquities,  Who  healeth  all  thy  diseases  .  .  .  Who 
satisfieth  thy  mouth  with  good  things.”  So  foolish  is 
the  slander  that  religion  is  too  transcendental  for  the 
common  life  of  man. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


MERIBAH. 
xvii.  1-7. 

THE  people,  miraculously  fed,  are  therefore  called 
to  exhibit  more  confidence  in  God  than  hitherto, 
because  much  is  required  of  him  to  whom  much  is 
given.  They  have  now  to  plunge  deeper  into  the 
wilderness ;  and  after  two  stages  which  Exodus  omits 
(Num.  xxxiii.  12,  13),  and  just  as  they  approach  the 
mount  of  God,  they  find  themselves  without  water. 
Even  the  Son  of  Man  Himself  was  led  into  the 
wilderness  next  after  the  descent  of  the  Spirit,  and 
the  avowal  by  the  voice  of  God ;  nor  is  any  true 
Christian  to  marvel  if  his  seasons  of  special  privilege 
are  succeeded  by  special  demands  upon  his  firmness. 

One  finds  himself  conjecturing,  very  often,  what 
nobler  history,  what  grander  analogies  between  type 
and  antitype,  what  more  gracious  and  lavish  inter¬ 
positions  might  have  instructed  us,  if  only  the  type 
had  been  less  woefully  imperfect — if  Israel  had  been 
trustful  as  Moses  was,  and  the  crude  material  had  not 
marred  the  design. 

It  would  be  more  practical  and  edifying  to  reflect  how 
often  we  ourselves,  like  Israel,  might  have  learned  and 
exemplified  deep  things  of  the  grace  of  God,  when  all 
we  really  exhibited  was  the  well-worn  lesson  of  human 
frailty  and  divine  forbearance. 


250 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


In  the  story  of  our  Lord,  it  has  been  observed  that 
before  the  Pharisees  directly  assailed  Himself,  they 
found  fault  with  His  disciples  who  fasted  not,  or 
accosted  them  concerning  Him  Who  ate  with  sinners. 
And  so  here  the  people  really  tempted  God,  but  openly 
il  strove  with  Moses,”  and  with  Aaron  too,  for  the  verb 
is  a  plural  one  :  u  Give  ye  water  ”  (ver.  2). 

But  as  Aaron  is  merely  an  agent  and  spokesman, 
the  chief  value  of  this  tacit  allusion  to  him,  besides 
proving  his  fidelity,  is  to  refute  the  notion  that  he  sinks 
into  comparative  obscurity  only  after  the  sin  of  the 
golden  calf.  Already  his  position  is  one  to  be  indicated 
rather  than  expressed ;  and  Moses  said,  “  Why  do  ye 
quarrel  with  me  ?  wherefore  do  ye  try  the  Lord  ?  ” 

But  the  frenzy  rose  higher :  it  was  he,  and  not  a 
higher  One,  who  had  brought  them  out  of  Egypt;  the 
upshot  of  it  would  only  be  “  to  kill  us,  and  our  children, 
and  our  cattle,  with  thirst.” 

Look  closely  at  this  expression,  and  a  curious 
significance  discloses  itself.  Was  it  mere  covetousness, 
the  spirit  of  the  Jew  Shylock  lamenting  in  one  breath 
his  daughter  and  his  ducats,  which  introduced  the  cattle 
along  with  the  children  into  this  complaint  of  dying 
men  ?  Shylock  himself,  when  death  actually  looked  him 
in  the  face,  readily  sacrificed  his  fortune.  Nor  is  it 
credible  that  a  large  number  of  people,  really  believing 
that  a  horrible  death  was  imminent,  would  have  spent 
any  complaints  upon  their  property.  The  language  is 
exactly  that  of  angry  exaggeration.  They  have  come 
through  straits  quite  as  desperate,  and  they  know  it 
well.  It  is  not  the  fear  of  death,  but  the  painful  delay 
of  rescue,  the  discomfort  and  misery  of  their  condition 
in  the  meanwhile,  the  contrast  between  their  suffer¬ 
ings  and  their  own  conception  of  the  rights  of  the 


xvii.  1-7.] 


MERIBAH. 


251 


favourites  of  heaven,  which  is  audible  in  this  complaint. 
And  thus  their  11  Trial"  and  “Quarrel”  are  admirably 
epitomised  in  the  phrase  “  Is  Jehovah  among  us  or 
not?”  a  phrase  which  has  often  since  been  in  the 
heart,  if  not  upon  the  lips,  of  men  who  had  supposed 
the  life  divine  to  be  one  long  holiday,  the  pilgrimage 
an  excursion,  when  without  are  fightings  and  within 
fears,  when  they  have  great  sorrow  and  heaviness  in 
their  hearts. 

Because  God  is  not  a  Judge,  but  a  Father,  the 
murmurs  of  Israel  do  not  prevent  Him  from  showing 
mercy.  Accordingly,  when  Moses  prays,  he  is  bidden 
to  go  on  before  the  people,  bringing  certain  of  their 
elders  along  with  him  for  witnesses  of  the  marvel  that 
was  to  follow.  Such  is  the  Divine  method.  As  soon 
as  unbelief  and  discontent  estranged  the  Jews  of  the 
New  Testament  from  Christ,  He  would  not  vulgarise 
His  miracles,  nor  do  many  mighty  works  among  the 
unbelieving.  After  His  resurrection  He  appeared  not 
unto  all  the  people,  but  unto  witnesses  chosen  before. 
And  as  the  Jews  were  chosen  to  bear  witness  to  Him 
among  the  nations,  so  were  these  elders  now  to  bear 
witness  among  the  Jews,  who  might  without  their  testi¬ 
mony  have  fallen  into  some  such  rationalising  theory 
as  that  of  Tacitus,  who  says  that  Moses  discovered  a 
fountain  by  examining  a  spot  where  wild  asses  lay. 

With  these  witnesses,  he  is  bidden  to  go  to  a  rock 
in  Horeb  (so  nearly  had  these  murmurers  approached 
the  scene  of  the  most  awful  ot  all  manifestations  of 
Him  whose  presence  they  debated),  and  there  God 
was  to  stand  before  them  upon  the  rock,  making  His 
universal  presence  a  localised  consciousness  in  their 
experience. 

A  true  religion  is  progressive :  every  stage  of  it  leans 


252 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


on  the  past  and  sustains  the  future;  and  so  Moses 
must  bring  with  him  u  the  rod,  wherewith  thou  smotest 
the  river.”  The  dullest  can  see  the  fitness  of  this 
allusion.  Among  all  the  wonders  which  the  shepherd’s 
wand  had  wrought,  the  mastery  over  the  Nile,  the 
plague  which  inflicted  an  unwonted  thirst  upon  the 
inhabitants  of  that  well-watered  field  of  Zoan,  was 
most  to  the  purpose  now.  To  kill  and  to  make  alive 
are  the  functions  of  the  same  Being,  and  He  Who 
spoiled  the  Egyptian  river  will  now  refresh  His 
heritage  that  is  weary.  At  the  touch  of  the  prophetic 
wand  the  waters  poured  forth  which  thenceforth 
supplied  them  through  all  their  desert  wanderings. 

Reserving  the  symbolic  meaning  of  this  event  for 
a  future  study,  we  have  to  remember  meanwhile  the 
warning  which  the  apostle  here  discovered.  All  the 
people  drank  of  the  rock,  yet  with  many  of  them  God 
was  not  pleased.  Privilege  is  one  thing — acceptance  is 
quite  another ;  and  it  shall  be  more  tolerable  at  last 
for  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  than  for  nations,  churches 
and  men,  who  were  content  to  resemble  soil  that 
drinketh  in  the  rain  that  cometh  upon  it  oft,  and  yet 
to  remain  unfruitful.  Already  the  conduct  of  Israel 
was  such  that  the  place  w^as  named  from  human 
worthlessness  rather  than  Divine  beneficence.  Too 
often,  it  is  the  more  conspicuous  part  of  the  story  of 
the  relations  of  God  and  man. 

AMALEK . 
xvii.  8-16. 

Nothing  can  be  more  natural,  to  those  who  remember 
the  value  of  a  fountain  in  the  East,  than  that  Amalek 
should  swoop  down  from  his  own  territories  upon 


xvii.  8-16.] 


AMALEK. 


253 


Israel,  as  soon  as  this  abundant  river  tempted  his 
cupidity.  This  unprovoked  attack  of  a  kindred  nation 
leads  to  another  advance  in  the  education  of  the 
people. 

They  had  hitherto  been  the  sheep  of  God :  now  they 
must  become  His  warriors.  At  the  Red  Sea  it  was 
said  to  them,  “  Stand  still,  and  see  the  salvation  of  the 
Lord  .  .  .  the  Lord  shall  fight  for  you,  and  ye  shall  hold 
your  peace”  (xiv.  13).  But  it  is  not  so  now.  Just  as 
the  function  of  every  true  miracle  is  to  lead  to  a  state 
of  faith  in  which  miracles  are  not  required  ;  just  as 
a  mother  reaches  her  hand  to  a  tottering  infant,  that 
presently  the  boy  may  go  alone,  so  the  Lord  fought  for 
Israel,  that  Israel  might  learn  to  fight  for  the  Lord. 
The  herd  of  slaves  who  came  out  of  Egypt  could  not 
be  trusted  to  stand  fast  in  battle ;  and  what  a  defeat 
would  have  done  with  them  we  may  judge  by  their 
outcries  at  the  very  sight  of  Pharaoh.  But  now  they 
had  experience  of  Divine  succour,  and  had  drawn  the 
inspiring  breath  of  freedom.  And  so  it  was  reasonable 
to  expect  that  some  chosen  men  of  them  at  least  will 
be  able  to  endure  the  shock  of  battle.  And  if  so,  it 
was  a  matter  of  the  last  importance  to  develop  and 
render  conscious  the  national  spirit,  a  spirit  so  noble  in 
its  unselfish  readiness  to  die,  and  in  its  scorn  of  such 
material  ills  as  anguish  and  mutilation  compared  with 
baseness  and  dishonour,  that  the  re-kindling  of  it  in 
seasons  of  peril  and  conflict  is  more  than  half  a  com¬ 
pensation  for  the  horrors  of  a  battle-field. 

We  do  not  now  inquire  what  causes  avail  to  justify 
the  infliction  and  endurance  of  those  horrors.  Probably 
they  will  vary  from  age  to  age ;  and  as  the  ties  grow 
strong  which  bind  mankind  together,  the  rupture  of 
them  will  be  regarded  with  an  ever-deepening  shudder, 


254 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


• — -just  as  England  to-day  would  certainly  refuse  to 
make  war  upon  our  American  kinsmen  for  a  provoca¬ 
tion  which  (rightly  or  wrongly)  she  wTould  not  endure 
from  Russians.  But  the  point  to  be  observed  is  that 
war  cannot  be  inherently  immoral,  since  God  instructed 
in  war  the  first  nation  that  He  ever  trained,  not  using 
its  experience  of  His  immediate  interpositions  to  super¬ 
sede  all  need  of  human  strife,  but  to  make  valiant 
soldiers,  and  adding  some  of  the  most  precious  lessons 
of  all  their  later  experience  on  the  battle-field  and  by 
the  sword.  Now,  it  assuredly  cannot  be  shown  that 
anything  in  itself  immoral  is  fostered  and  encouraged  by 
the  Old  Testament.  Slavery  and  divorce,  which  it  was 
not  yet  possible  to  extirpate,  were  hampered,  restricted, 
and  reduced  to  a  minimum,  being  11  suffered”  a  because 
of  the  hardness  of  '  their  ’  hearts  ”  (Matt.  xix.  8).  The 
wildest  assailant  of  the  Pentateuch  will  scarcely  pretend 
that  it  fosters  and  incites  either  divorce  or  slavery,  as, 
beyond  all  question,  it  encourages  the  martial  ardour  of 
the  Jews. 

And  yet  war,  though  permissible,  and  in  certain  cir¬ 
cumstances  necessary,  is  only  necessary  as  the  lesser 
of  two  evils ;  it  is  not  in  itself  good.  Solomon,  not 
David,  could  build  the  temple  of  the  Lord ;  and  Isaiah 
sharply  contrasts  the  Messiah  with  even  that  provi¬ 
dentially  appointed  conqueror,  the  only  pagan  who  is 
called  by  God  “  My  anointed,”  in  that  the  one  comes 
upon  rulers  as  upon  mortar,  and  as  the  potter  treadeth 
clay,  but  the  Other  breaks  not  a  bruised  reed,  nor 
quenches  the  smoking  flax  (Isa.  xli.  25,  xlii.  3,  xlv.  1). 
The  ideal  of  humanity  is  peace,  and  also  it  is  happi¬ 
ness,  but  war  may  not  yet  have  ceased  to  be  a  necessity 
of  life,  sometimes  as  ruinous  to  evade  as  any  other  form 
of  suffering. 


xvii.  8- 1 6.J 


A  MALE  A' 


*55 


Another  necessity  of  national  development  is  the 
advancement  of  capable  men.  The  empire  of  Napoleon 
would  assuredly  have  withered,  if  only  because  its 
chief  was  as  jealous  of  commanding  genius  as  he  was 
ready  to  advance  and  patronise  capacity  of  the  second 
order.  It  is  a  maxim  that  true  greatness  finds  worthy 
colleagues  and  successors,  and  rejoices  in  them.  And 
while  the  guidance  of  Jehovah  is  to  be  assumed 
throughout,  it  is  significant  that  the  first  mention  of 
the  splendid  commander  and  godly  judge,  during  all 
whose  days  and  the  days  of  his  contemporaries  Israel 
served  Jehovah,  comes  not  in  any  express  revelation  or 
commandment  of  God ;  but  the  narrative  relates  that 
Moses  said  unto  Joshua,  “  Choose  out  men  for  us  and 
go  out,  fight  with  Amalek  :  to-morrow  I  will  stand  on 
the  top  of  the  hill  with  the  rod  of  God  in  my  hand." 
They  are  the  words  of  one  who  had  noted  him  already 
as  “a  man  in  whom  is  the  Spirit"  (Num.  xxvii.  18), 
of  one  also  who  had  unlearned,  in  the  experience  now 
of  eighty  years,  the  desire  of  glittering  achievement 
and  martial  fame,  who  knew  that  the  deepest  fountains 
of  real  power  are  hidden,  and  was  content  that  another 
should  lead  the  headlong  and  victorious  charge,  if  only 
it  were  his  to  hold,  upon  the  top  of  the  hill,  the  rod  of 
God. 

Once  it  wTas  his  own  rod  :  with  it  the  exiled  shepherd 
controlled  the  sheep  of  his  master;  that  it  should  be 
the  medium  of  the  miraculous  had  appeared  to  be  an 
additional  miracle,  but  now  it  was  the  very  rod  of  God, 
nor  was  any  cry  to  heaven  more  eloquent  and  better 
grounded  than  simply  the  reaching  toward  the  skies, 
in  long,  steady,  mute  appeal,  of  that  symbol  of  all  His 
dealings  with  them — the  plaguing  of  Egypt,  the  reces¬ 
sion  of  the  tide  and  its  wild  return,  the  bringing  of 


256 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


water  from  the  rock.  Was  all  to  be  in  vain  ?  Should 
the  wild  boar  waste  the  vine  just  brought  out  of  Egypt 
before  ever  it  reached  the  appointed  vineyard  ?  And 
we  also  should  be  able  to  plead  with  God  the  noble 
works  that  He  hath  done  in  our  time.  For  us  also  there 
ought  to  be  such  experience  as  worketh  hope.  As  long 
as  the  exertion  was  possible  even  to  the  heroic  force 
which  age  had  not  abated,  Moses  thus  prayed  for  his 
people ;  for  the  gesture  was  a  prayer,  and  a  grand  one, 
and  must  not  be  criticised  otherwise  than  as  the  act 
of  a  poetic  and  primitive  genius,  whose  institutions 
throughout  are  full  of  spiritual  import.  While  he  did 
this,  Israel  prevailed ;  but  the  slow  progress  of  the 
victory  reminds  us  of  these  dreary  centuries  during 
which  we  are  just  able  to  discern  some  gradual  advance 
of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  on  earth,  but  no  rout,  no 
collapse  of  evil.  And  why  was  this  ?  Because  the 
sustaining  and  permanent  energy  was  not  to  flow  from 
the  prayers  of  one,  however  holy  and  however  eminent ; 
three  men  were  together  in  the  mountain,  and  the  co¬ 
operation  of  them  all  was  demanded  ;  so  that  only  when 
Aaron  and  Hur  supported  the  sinking  hand  of  their 
chief  was  the  decisive  victory  given. 

Now,  the  lesson  from  all  this  does  not  concern  the 
High-priestly  intercession  of  our  Lord,  for  the  office 
of  Moses  is  consistently  distinguished  from  the  priest¬ 
hood.  Nor  can  the  notion  be  tolerated  that  if  our 
Lord  requires  mortal  co-operation  before  asking  and 
being  given  the  heathen  for  His  heritage,  which  is 
obviously  the  case,  the  reason  can  be  at  all  expressed 
by  that  weakness  which  needed  support. 

No,  the  Lord  our  Priest  is  also  Himself  the  dis¬ 
penser  of  victory.  To  Him  all  power  is  given  on 
earth,  and  to  Him  it  is  our  duty  to  appeal  for  the 


xvli.  8- 1 6.] 


AAIALEK. 


2.57 


triumph  of  His  own  cause.  And  here  and  there, 
doubtless,  a  Christian  heart  is  fervent  and  faithful 
in  its  intercessions.  To  these,  unknown,  unsuspected 
by  the  combatants  in  the  heat  of  battle, — to  humble 
saints,  some  of  them  bed-ridden,  ignorant,  poverty- 
stricken,  despised,  holy  souls  who  have  no  controversial 
skill,  no  missionary  calling,  but  who  possess  the  grace 
habitually  to  convert  their  wishes  into  prayers, — to 
such,  perhaps,  it  is  due  that  the  idols  of  India  and 
China  are  now  bowing  down.  And  when  they  cease 
to  be  a  minority  in  so  doing,  when  those  who  now 
criticise  learn  to  sustain  their  flagging  energies,  we 
shall  see  a  day  of  the  Lord. 

Observe,  however,  that  as  the  active  exertion  of 
the  host  does  not  displace  the  silence  of  intercession, 
neither  is  it  displaced  itself :  Joshua  really  bore  his 
part  in  the  discomfiture  of  Amalek  and  his  host.  And 
so  it  is  always.  The  development  of  human  energy  to 
the  uttermost  is  a  part  of  the  design  of  Him  Who  gave 
a  task  even  to  unfallen  man.  Let  none  suppose  that 
to  labour  is  (sufficiently  and  by  itself)  to  pray ;  but  also 
let  none  idly  persuade  himself  that  while  energies  and 
responsibilities  are  his,  to  pray  is  sufficiently  to  labour. 

Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  Israel  won  its  first  victory 
in  battle.  Another  step  was  taken  toward  the  fulfil¬ 
ment  of  the  promise  to  Abraham  to  make  of  him  a 
great  nation ;  and  also  toward  the  gradual  transfer¬ 
ence  of  the  national  faith  from  a  passive  reliance  in 
Divine  interposition  to  an  abiding  confidence  in  Divine 
help.  Let  it  be  clearly  understood  that  this  latter  is 
the  nobler  and  the  more  mature  faith. 

With  martial  ardour,  God  took  care  to  inculcate  the 
sense  of  national  responsibility,  without  which  war¬ 
riors  become  no  more  than  brigands.  So  it  was  with 

i7 


258  THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 

Amalek :  he  had  not  been  attacked  or  even  menaced , 
he  had  marched  out  from  his  own  territories  to  assail 
an  innocent  and  kindred  race  (“  then  came  Amalek  ” 
ver.  8),  and  his  attack  had  been  cruel  and  cowardly, 
he  smote  the  hindmost,  all  that  were  feeble  and  in  the 
rear,  when  they  were  faint  and  weary,  and  he  feared 
not  God  (Deut.  xxv.  18).  Against  all  such  tactics  the 
wrath  of  God  was  denounced  when,  because  of  them, 
Amalek  was  doomed  to  total  extirpation. 

Moses  now  built  an  altar,  to  imprint  on  the  mind 
of  the  people  this  new  lesson.  And  he  called  it,  u  The 
Lord  is  my  Banner/’  a  title  which  called  the  nation 
at  once  to  valour  and  to  obedience,  which  asserted  that 
they  were  an  army,  but  a  consecrated  one. 

Now  let  us  ask  whether  this  simple  story  is  at  all 
the  kind  of  thing  which  legend  or  myth  would  have 
created,  for  the  first  martial  exploit  of  Israel.  The 
obscure  part  played  by  Moses  is  not  what  we  would 
expect ;  nor,  even  as  a  mediator,  is  the  position  of  one 
whose  arms  must  be  held  up  a  very  romantic  con¬ 
ception.  If  the  object  is  to  inspire  the  Jews  for  later 
struggles  with  more  formidable  foes,  the  story  is  ill- 
contrived,  for  we  read  of  no  surprising  force  of  Amalek, 
and  no  inspiriting  exploit  of  Joshua.  Everything  is 
as  prosaic  as  the  real  course  of  events  in  this  poor 
world  is  wont  to  be.  And  on  that  account  it  is  all 
the  more  useful  to  us  who  live  prosaic  lives,  and 
need  the  help  of  God  among  prosaic  circumstances. 


CHAPTER  XVIIL 


JE  THE  O . 


xvm.  1-27. 


HE  defeat  of  Amalek  is  followed  by  the  visit  of 


X  Jethro ;  the  opposite  pole  of  the  relation  between 
Israel  and  the  nations,  the  coming  of  the  Gentiles  to 
his  brightness.  And  already  that  is  true  which  repeats 
itself  all  through  the  history  of  the  Church,  that  much 
secular  wisdom,  the  art  of  organisation,  the  structure 
and  discipline  of  societies,  may  be  drawn  from  the 
experience  and  wisdom  of  the  world. 

Moses  was  under  the  special  guidance  of  God,  as 
really  as  any  modern  enthusiast  can  claim  to  be. 
When  he  turned  for  aid  or  direction  to  heaven,  he  was 
always  answered.  And  yet  he  did  not  think  scorn 
of  the  counsel  of  his  kinsman.  And  although  eighty 
years  had  not  dimmed  the  fire  of  his  eyes,  nor  wasted 
his  strength,  he  neglected  not  the  warning  which  taught 
him  to  economise  his  force;  not  to  waste  on  every 
paltry  dispute  the  attention  and  wisdom  which  could 
govern  the  new-born  state. 

Jethro  is  the  kinsman,  and  probably  the  brother-in- 
law  of  Moses  ;  for  if  he  were  the  father-in-law,  and  the 
same  as  Reuel  in  the  second  chapter,  why  should  a 
new  name  be  introduced  without  any  mark  of  identi¬ 
fication  ?  When  he  hears  of  the  emancipation  of  Israel 


26o 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


from  Egypt,  he  brings  back  to  Moses  his  two  sons  and 
Zipporah,  who  had  been  sent  away,  after  the  angry 
scene  at  the  circumcision  of  the  younger,  and  before 
he  entered  Egypt  with  his  life  in  his  hand.  Now  he 
v/as  a  great  personage,  the  leader  of  a  new  nation,  and 
the  conqueror  of  the  proudest  monarch  in  the  world. 
With  what  feelings  would  the  wife  and  husband  meet  ? 
We  are  told  nothing  of  their  interview,  nor  have  we 
any  reason  to  qualify  the  unfavourable  impression 
produced  by  the  circumstances  of  their  parting,  by  the 
schismatic  worship  founded  by  their  grandchildren, 
and  by  the  loneliness  implied  in  the  very  names  of 
Gershom  and  Eliezer — “  A-stranger-there,”  and  “God- 
a-Help.” 

But  the  relations  between  Moses  and  Jethro  are 
charming,  whether  we  look  at  the  obeisance  rendered 
to  the  official  minister  of  God  by  him  whom  God  had 
honoured  so  specially,  by  the  prosperous  man  to  the 
friend  of  his  adversity,  or  at  the  interest  felt  by  the 
priest  of  Midian  in  all  the  details  of  the  great  deliver¬ 
ance  of  which  he  had  heard  already,  or  his  joy  in  a 
Divine  manifestation,  probably  not  in  all  respects  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  prejudices  of  his  race,  or  his  praise  of 
Jehovah  as  “  greater  than  all  gods,  yea,  in  the  thing 
wherein  they  dealt  proudly  against  them”  (ver.  n, 
R.V.).  The  meaning  of  this  phrase  is  either  that  the 
gods  were  plagued  in  their  own  domains,  or  that 
Jehovah  had  finally  vanquished  the  Egyptians  by  the 
very  element  in  which  they  were  most  oppressive,  as 
when  Moses  himself  had  been  exposed  to  drown. 

There  is  another  expression,  in  the  first  verse,  which 
deserves  to  be  remarked.  How  do  the  friends  of  a 
successful  man  think  of  the  scenes  in  which  he  has 
borne  a  memorable  part  ?  They  chiefly  think  of  them 


xviii.  I-27.] 


JETHRO . 


261 


in  connection  with  their  own  hero.  And  amid  all  the 
story  of  the  Exodus,  in  which  so  little  honour  is  given 
to  the  human  actor,  the  one  trace  of  personal  exultation 
is  where  it  is  most  natural  and  becoming ;  it  is  in  the 
heart  of  his  relative:  “When  Jethro  .  .  .  heard  of  all 
that  the  Lord  had  done  for  Moses  and  for  Israel.” 

We  are  told,  with  marked  emphasis,  that  this 
Midianite,  a  priest,  and  accustomed  to  act  as  such 
with  Moses  in  his  family,  “  took  a  burnt-offering  and 
sacrifices  for  God  ;  and  Aaron  came,  and  all  the  elders 
of  Israel,  to  eat  bread  with  Moses’  father-in-law  before 
God.”  Nor  can  we  doubt  that  the  writer  of  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews,  who  laid  such  stress  upon  the  sub¬ 
ordination  of  Abraham  to  Melchizedek,  would  have 
discerned  in  the  relative  position  of  Jethro  and  Aaron 
another  evidence  that  the  ascendency  of  the  Aaronic 
priesthood  was  only  temporary.  We  shall  hereafter  see 
that  priesthood  is  a  function  of  redeemed  humanity, 
and  that  all  limitations  upon  it  were  for  a  season,  and 
due  to  human  shortcoming.  But  for  this  very  reason 
(if  there  were  no  other)  the  chief  priest  could  only  be 
He  Who  represents  and  embodies  all  humanity,  in 
Whom  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  barbarian,  Scythian, 
bond  nor  free,  because  He  is  all  and  in  all. 

In  the  meantime,  here  is  recognised,  in  the  history 
of  Israel,  a  Gentile  priesthood. 

And,  as  at  the  passover,  so  now,  the  sacrifice  to  God 
is  partaken  of  by  His  people,  who  are  conscious  of 
acceptance  by  Him.  Happy  was  the  union  of  innocent 
festivity  with  a  sacramental  recognition  of  God.  It  is 
the  same  sentiment  which  was  aimed  at  by  the  primitive 
Christian  Church  in  her  feasts  of  love,  genuine  meals 
in  the  house  of  God,  until  licence  and  appetite  spoiled 
them,  and  the  apostle  asked  “Have  ye  not  houses  to 


262 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


eat  and  drink  in  ?  ”  (i  Cor.  xi.  22).  Shall  there  never 
come  a  time  when  the  victorious  and  pure  Church  of 
the  latter  days  shall  regain  what  we  have  forfeited, 
when  the  doctrine  of  the  consecration  of  what  is  called 
11  secular  life  ”  shall  be  embodied  again  in  forms  like 
these  ?  It  speaks  to  us  meanwhile  in  a  form  which 
is  easily  ridiculed  (as  in  Lamb's  well-known  essay),  and 
yet  singularly  touching  and  edifying  if  rightly  consi¬ 
dered,  in  the  asking  for  a  blessing  upon  our  meals. 

On  the  morrow,  Jethro  saw  Moses,  all  day  long, 
deciding  the  small  matters  and  great  which  needed 
already  to  be  adjudicated  for  the  nation.  He  who  had 
striven,  without  a  commission,  himself  to  smite  the 
Egyptian  and  lead  out  Israel,  is  the  same  self-reliant, 
heroic,  not  too  discreet  person  still. 

But  the  true  statesman  and  administrator  is  he  who 
employs  to  the  utmost  all  the  capabilities  and  energies 
of  his  subordinates.  And  Jethro  made  a  deep  mark 
in  history  when  he  taught  Moses  the  distinction  be¬ 
tween  the  lawgiver  and  the  judge,  between  him  who 
sought  from  God  and  proclaimed  to  the  people  the 
principles  of  justice  and  their  form,  and  him  who 
applied  the  law  to  each  problem  as  it  arose. 

“  It  is  supposed,  and  with  probability,”  writes  Kalisch 
(in  loco),  “that  Alfred  the  Great,  who  was  well  versed 
in  the  Bible,  based  his  own  Saxon  constitution  of 
sheriffs  in  counties,  etc.,  on  the  example  of  the  Mosaic 
division  (comp.  Bacon  on  English  Government ,  i.  70).” 
And  thus  it  may  be  that  our  own  nation  owes  its  free 
institutions  almost  directly  to  the  generous  interest  in 
the  well-being  of  his  relative,  felt  by  an  Arabian  priest, 
who  cherished,  amid  the  growth  of  idolatries  all  around 
him,  the  primitive  belief  in  God,  and  who  rightly  held 
that  the  first  qualifications  of  a  capable  judge  were 


xviii.  1-27.] 


JETHRO . 


263 


ability,  and  the  fear  of  God,  truthfulness  and  hatred 
of  unjust  gain. 

We  learn  from  Deuteronomy  (i.  9-15),  that  Moses 
allowed  the  people  themselves  to  elect  these  officials, 
who  became  not  only  their  judges  but  their  captains. 

From  the  whole  of  this  narrative  we  see  clearly 
that  the  intervention  of  God  for  Israel  is  no  more  to 
be  regarded  as  superseding  the  exercise  of  human 
prudence  and  common-sense,  than  as  dispensing  with 
valour  in  the  repulse  of  Amalek,  and  with  patience  in 
journeying  through  the  wilderness. 


THE  TYPICAL  BEARINGS  OF  THE  HISTORY. 


E  are  now  about  to  pass  from  history  to  legisla 


V  V  tion.  And  this  is  a  convenient  stage  at  which  to 
pause,  and  ask  how  it  comes  to  pass  that  all  this  narrative 
is  also,  in  some  sense,  an  allegory.  It  is  a  discussion  full 
of  pitfalls.  Countless  volumes  of  arbitrary  and  fanciful 
interpretation  have  done  their  worst  to  discredit  every 
attempt,  however  cautious  and  sober,  at  finding  more 
than  the  primary  signification  in  any  narrative.*  And 
whoever  considers  the  reckless,  violent  and  inconsist¬ 
ent  methods  of  the  mystical  commentators  may  be 
forgiven  if  he  recoils  from  occupying  the  ground  which 
they  have  wasted,  and  contents  himself  with  simply 
drawing  the  lessons  which  the  story  directly  suggests. 

But  the  New  Testament  does  not  warrant  such  a 
surrender.  It  tells  us  that  leaven  answers  to  malice, 
rnd  unleavened  bread  to  sincerity;  that  at  the  Red 
Sea  the  people  were  baptized ;  that  the  tabernacle  and 
the  altar,  the  sacrifice  and  the  priest,  the  mercy-seat 
and  the  manna,  were  all  types  and  shadows  of  abiding 
Christian  realities. 

It  is  more  surprising  to  find  the  return  of  the  infant 
Jesus  connected  with  the  words  “  When  Israel  was  a 


*  Take  as  an  example  the  assertion  of  Bunyan  that  the  sea  in 
the  Revelation  is  a  sea  of  glass,  because  the  laver  in  the  tabernacle 
was  made  of  the  brazen  looking-glasses  of  the  women.  {Solomon  s 
Temple ,  xxxvi.  i.) 


THE  TYPICAL  BEARINGS  OF  THE  HISTORY.  265 


child  then  I  loved  him,  and  I  called  My  son  out  of 
Egypt,” — for  it  is  impossible  to  doubt  that  the  prophet 
was  here  speaking  of  the  Exodus,  and  had  in  mind 
the  phrase  “  Israel  is  My  son,  My  first-born  :  let  My 
son  go,  that  he  may  serve  Me”  (Matt.  i.  15;  Hos.  xi.  I ; 
Exod.  iv.  22). 

How  are  such  passages  to  be  explained  ?  Surely 
not  by  finding  a  superficial  resemblance  between  two 
things,  and  thereupon  transferring  to  one  of  them 
whatever  is  true  of  the  other.  No  thought  can  attain 
accuracy  except  by  taking  care  not  to  confuse  in  this 
way  things  which  superficially  resemble  each  other. 

But  no  thought  can  be  fertilising  and  suggestive 
which  neglects  real  and  deep  resemblances,  resem¬ 
blances  of  principle  as  well  as  incident,  resemblances 
which  are  due  to  the  mind  of  God  or  the  character  of 
man. 

In  the  structure  and  furniture  of  the  tabernacle, 
and  the  order  of  its  services,  there  are  analogies 
deliberately  planned,  and  such  as  every  one  would 
expect,  between  religious  truth  shadowed  fo;th  in 
Judaism,  and  the  same  truth  spoken  in  these  latter 
days  unto  us  in  the  Son. 

But  in  the  emancipation,  the  progress,  and  alas  !  the 
sins  and  chastisements  of  Israel,  there  are  analogies 
of  another  kind,  since  here  it  is  history  which  resembles 
theology,  and  chiefly  secular  things  which  are  compared 
with  spiritual.  But  the  analogies  are  not  capricious ; 
they  are  based  upon  the  obvious  fact  that  the  same 
Gcd  Who  pitied  Israel  in  bondage  sees,  with  the  same 
tender  heart,  a  worse  tyranny.  For  it  is  not  a  figure 
of  speech  to  say  that  sin  is  slavery.  Sin  does  outrage 
the  will,  and  degrade  and  spoil  the  life.  The  sinner 
does  obey  a  hard  and  merciless  master.  If  his  true 


266 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


home  is  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  he  is,  like  Israel,  not 
only  a  slave  but  an  exile.  Is  God  the  God  of  the  Jew 
only  ?  for  otherwise  He  must,  being  immutable,  deal 
with  us  and  our  tyrant  as  He  dealt  with  Israel  and 
Pharaoh.  If  He  did  not,  by  an  exertion  of  omnipotence, 
transplant  them  from  Eg}^pt  to  their  inheritance  at  one 
stroke,  but  required  of  them  obedience,  co-operation, 
patient  discipline,  and  a  gradual  advance,  why  should 
we  expect  the  whole  wTork  and  process  of  grace  to  be 
summed  up  in  the  one  experience  which  we  call 
conversion?  Yet  if  He  did,  promptly  and  completely, 
break  their  chains  and  consummate  their  emancipation, 
then  the  fact  that  grace  is  a  progressive  and  gradual 
experience  does  not  forbid  us  to  reckon  ourselves  dead 
unto  sin.  If  the  region  through  which  they  were  led, 
during  their  time  of  discipline,  was  very  unlike  the 
land  of  milk  and  honey  which  awaited  the  close  of  their 
pilgrimage,  it  is  not  unlikely  that  the  same  God  will 
educate  his  later  Church  by  the  same  means,  leading  us 
also  by  a  wray  that  wre  know  not,  to  humble  and  prove 
us,  that  He  may  do  us  good  at  the  latter  end. 

And  if  He  marks,  by  a  solemn  institution,  the  period 
when  we  enter  into  covenant  relations  with  Himself, 
and  renounce  the  kingdom  and  tyranny  of  His  foe,  is 
it  marvellous  that  the  apostle  found  an  analogy  for 
this  in  the  great  event  by  which  God  punctuated  the 
emancipation  of  Israel,  leading  them  out  of  Egypt 
through  the  sea  depths  and  beneath  the  protecting  cloud? 

If  privilege,  and  adoption,  and  the  Divine  good-will, 
did  not  shelter  them  from  the  consequences  of  in¬ 
gratitude  and  rebellion,  if  He  spared  not  the  natural 
branches,  we  should  take  heed  lest  He  spare  not  us. 

Such  analogies  are  really  arguments,  as  solid  as 
those  of  Bishop  Butler. 


THE  TYPICAL  BEARINGS  OF  THE  HISTORY.  267 


But  the  same  cannot  be  maintained  so  easily  of  some 
others.  When  that  is  quoted  of  our  Lord  upon  the 
cross  which  was  written  of  the  paschal  lamb,  lt  a  bone 
shall  not  be  broken”  (Exod.  xii.  4 6,  John  xix.  3 6), 
we  feel  that  the  citation  needs  to  be  justified  upon 
different  grounds.  But  such  grounds  are  available. 
He  was  the  true  Lamb  of  God.  For  His  sake  the 
avenger  passes  over  all  His  followers.  His  flesh  is 
meat  indeed.  And  therefore,  although  no  analogy  can 
be  absolutely  perfect,  and  the  type  has  nothing  to 
declare  that  His  blood  is  drink  indeed,  }^et  there  is 
an  admirable  fitness,  worthy  of  inspired  record,  in  the 
consummating  and  fulfilment  in  Him,  and  in  Him 
alone  of  three  sufferers,  of  the  precept  “  A  bone  of 
Him  shall  not  be  broken.”  It  may  not  be  an  express 
prophec}'  wrhich  is  brought  to  pass,  but  it  is  a  beau¬ 
tiful  and  appropriate  correspondence,  wrought  out  by 
Providence,  not  available  for  the  coercion  of  sceptics, 
but  good  for  the  edifying  of  believers. 

And  so  it  is  with  the  calling  of  the  Son  out  of 
Egypt.  Unquestionably  Ilosea  spoke  of  Israel.  But 
unquestionably  too  the  phrase  “  My  Son,  My  Firstborn” 
is  a  startling  one.  Here  is  already  a  suggestive  differ¬ 
ence  between  the  monotheism  of  the  Old  Testament 
and  the  austere  jealous  logical  orthodoxy  of  the  Koran, 
which  protests  11  It  is  not  meet  for  God  to  have  any 
Son,  God  forbid”  (Sura  xix.  36).  Jesus  argued  that 
such  a  rigid  and  lifeless  orthodoxy  as  that  of  later 
Judaism,  ought  to  have  been  scandalised,  long  before 
it  came  to  consider  His  claims,  by  the  ancient  and 
recognised  inspiration  W'hich  gave  the  name  of  gods 
to  men  who  sat  in  judgment  as  the  representatives  of 
Heaven.  He  claimed  the  right  to  carry  still  further  the 
same  principle — namely,  that  deity  is  not  selfish  and 


268 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


incommunicable,  but  practically  gives  itself  away,  in 
transferring  the  exercise  of  its  functions.  From  such 
condescension  everything  may  be  expected,  for  God 
does  not  halt  in  the  middle  of  a  path  He  has  begun 
to  tread. 

But  if  this  argument  of  Jesus  were  a  valid  one  (and 
the  more  it  is  examined  the  more  profound  it  will  be 
seen  to  be),  how  significant  will  then  appear  the  term 
“  My  Son,”  as  applied  to  Israel ! 

In  condescending  so  far,  God  almost  pledged  Himself 
to  the  Incarnation,  being  no  dealer  in  half  measures, 
nor  likely  to  assume  rhetorically  a  relation  to  mankind 
to  which  in  fact  He  would  not  stoop. 

Every  Christian  feels,  moreover,  that  it  is  by  virtue 
of  the  grand  and  final  condescension  that  all  the  pre¬ 
liminary  steps  are  possible.  Because  Abraham’s  seed 
was  one,  that  is  Christ,  therefore  ye  (all)  if  ye  are 
Christ’s,  are  Abraham’s  seed,  heirs  according  to  promise 
(Gal.  iii.  1 6,  29). 

But  when  this  great  harmony  comes  to  be  devoutly 
recognised,  a  hundred  minor  and  incidental  points  of 
contact  are  invested  with  a  sacred  interest. 

No  doctrinal  injury  would  have  resulted,  if  the  Child 
Jesus  had  never  left  the  Holy  Land.  No  infidel  could 
have  served  his  cause  by  quoting  the  words  of  Hosea. 
Nor  can  we  now  cite  them  against  infidels  as  a  pro¬ 
phecy  fulfilled.  But  when  He  does  return  from  Egypt 
our  devotions,  not  our  polemics,  hail  and  rejoice  in 
the  coincidence.  It  reminds  us,  although  it  does  not 
demonstrate,  that  He  who  is  thus  called  out  of  Egypt 
is  indeed  the  Son. 

The  sober  historian  cannot  prove  anything,  logically 
and  to  demonstration,  by  the  reiterated  interventions 
in  history  of  atmospheric  phenomena.  And  yet  no 


THE  TYPICAL  BEARINGS  OF  THE  HISTORY.  269 


devout  thinker  can  fail  to  recognise  that  God  has 
reserved  the  hail  against  the  time  of  trouble  and  war. 

In  short,  it  is  absurd  and  hopeless  to  bid  us  limit 
our  contemplation,  in  a  divine  narrative,  to  what  can 
be  demonstrated  like  the  propositions  of  Euclid.  We 
laugh  at  the  French  for  trying  to  make  colonies  and 
constitutions  according  to  abstract  principles,  and  pro¬ 
posing,  as  they  once  did,  to  reform  Europe  a  after  the 
Chinese  manner.”  Well,  religion  also  is  not  a  theory  : 
it  is  the  true  history  of  the  past  of  humanity,  and  it 
is  the  formative  principle  in  the  history  of  the  present 
and  the  future. 

And  hence  it  follow’s  that  we  may  dwell  with  interest 
and  edification  upon  analogies,  as  every  great  thinker 
confesses  the  existence  of  truths,  “  which  never  can  be 
proved.” 

In  the  meantime  it  is  easy  to  recognise  the  much 
simpler  fact,  that  these  things  happened  unto  them  by 
way  of  example,  and  they  were  written  for  our  admo¬ 
nition. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


AT  SINAI. 
xix.  1-25. 

IN  the  third  month  from  the  Exodus,  and  on  the  self¬ 
same  day  (which  addition  fixes  the  date  precisely), 
the  people  reached  the  wilderness  of  Sinai.  This 
answers  fairly  to  the  date  of  Pentecost,  which  was 
afterwards  connected  by  tradition  with  the  giving  of 
the  law.  And  therefore  Pentecost  was  the  right  time 
for  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  bringing  with  Him 
the  law  of  the  spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  that 
freedom  from  servile  Jewish  obedience  which  is  not 
attained  by  violating  law,  but  by  being  imbued  in  its 
spirit,  by  the  love  which  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law. 

There  is  among  the  solemn  solitudes  of  Sinai  a  wide 
amphitheatre,  reached  by  twTo  converging  valleys,  and 
confronted  by  an  enormous  perpendicular  cliff,  the  Ras 
Sufsafeh — a  “  natural  altar/'  before  which  the  nation  had 
room  to  congregate,  awed  by  the  stern  magnificence  of 
the  approach,  and  by  the  intense  loneliness  and  desola¬ 
tion  of  the  surrounding  scene,  and  thus  prepared  for 
the  unparalleled  revelation  which  awaited  them. 

It  is  the  manner  of  God  to  speak  through  nature  and 
the  senses  to  the  soul.  We  cannot  imagine  the  youth 
of  the  Baptist  spent  in  Nazareth,  nor  of  Jesus  in  the 
desert.  Elijah,  too,  was  led  into  the  wilderness  to 


xix.  1-25.] 


AT  SINAI. 


271 


receive  the  vision  of  God,  and  the  agony  of  Jesus  was 
endured  at  night,  and  secluded  by  the  olives  from  the 
paschal  moon.  It  is  by  another  application  of  the  same 
principle  that  the  settled  Jewish  worship  was  bright 
with  music  and  splendid  with  gold  and  purple ;  and  the 
notion  that  the  sublime  and  beautiful  in  nature  and  art 
cannot  awaken  the  feelings  to  which  religion  appeals,  is 
as  shallow  as  the  notion  that  when  these  feelings  are 
awakened  all  is  won. 

What  happens  next  is  a  protest  against  this  latter 
extreme.  Awe  is  one  thing  :  the  submission  of  the 
will  is  another.  And  therefore  Moses  was  stopped 
when  about  to  ascend  the  mountain,  there  to  keep  the 
solemn  appointment  that  was  made  when  God  said, 
“This  shall  be  the  token  unto  thee  that  I  have  sent 
thee :  When  thou  hast  brought  forth  the  people  out  of 
Egypt,  ye  shall  serve  God  upon  tills  mountain”  (iii.  12). 
His  own  sense  of  the  greatness  of  the  crisis  perhaps 
needed  to  be  deepened.  Certainly  the  nation  had  to 
be  pledged,  induced  to  make  a  deliberate  choice,  now 
first,  as  often  again,  under  Joshua  and  Samuel,  and 
when  Elijah  invoked  Jehovah  upon  Carmel.  (Josh, 
xxiv.  24;  1  Sam.  xii.  14;  1  Kings  xviii.  21,  39.) 

It  is  easy  to  speak  of  pledges  and  formal  declara¬ 
tions  lightly,  but  they  have  their  warrant  in  many 
such  Scriptural  analogies,  nor  should  we  easily  find 
a  church,  careful  to  deal  with  souls,  which  has  not 
employed  them  in  some  form,  whether  after  the 
Anglican  and  Lutheran  fashion,  by  confirmation,  or 
in  the  less  formal  methods  of  other  Protestant  com¬ 
munions,  or  even  by  delaying  baptism  itself  until  it 
becomes,  for  the  adult  in  Christian  lands,  what  it  is 
to  the  convert  from  false  creeds. 

Therefore  the  Lord  called  to  Moses  as  he  climbed 


272 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


the  steep,  and  offered  through  him  a  formal  covenant 
to  the  people. 

“Thus  shalt  thou  say  to  the  house  of  Jacob,*  and 
tell  the  children  of  Israel :  Ye  have  seen  what  I  did 
unto  the  Egyptians,  and  how  I  bare  you  on  eagles’ 
wings,  and  brought  you  unto  Myself.” 

The  appeal  is  to  their  personal  experience  and  their 
gratitude  :  will  this  be  enough  ?  will  they  accept  His 
yoke,  as  every  convert  must,  not  knowing  what  it 
may  involve,  not  yet  having  His  demands  specified 
and  His  commandments  before  their  eyes,  content  to 
believe  that  whatever  is  required  of  them  will  be  good, 
because  the  requirement  is  from  God  ?  Thus  did 
Abraham,  who  went  forth,  not  knowing  whither,  but 
knowing  that  he  was  divinely  guided.  “  Now,  there¬ 
fore,  if  ye  will  obey  My  voice  indeed  and  keep  My 
covenant,  then  ye  shall  be  a  peculiar  treasure  unto 
Me  from  among  all  peoples ;  for  all  the  earth  is  Mine, 
and  ye  shall  be  unto  Me  a  kingdom  of  priests  and  a 
holy  nation.” 

Thus  God  conveys  to  them,  more  explicitly  than 
hitherto,  the  fact  that  He  is  the  universal  Lord,  not 
ruling  one  land  or  nation  only,  nor,  as  the  Pentateuch 
is  charged  with  teaching,  their  tutelary  deity  among 
many  others.  Thus  also  the  seeds  are  sown  in  them 
of  a  wholesome  and  rational  self-respect,  such  as  the 
Psalmist  felt,  wTho  asked  “What  is  man,  that  Thou 
art  mindful  of  him  ?  ”  yet  realised  that  such  mindful- 


*  This  phrase  is  not  found  elsewhere  in  the  Pentateuch.  Is  it 
fancy  which  detects  in  it  a  desire  to  remind  them  of  their  connection 
with  the  least  worthy  rather  than  the  noblest  of  the  Patriarchs  ? 
One  would  not  expect,  for  instance,  to  read,  Fear  net,  thou  worm 
Abraham,  or  even  Israel;  but  the  name  of  Jacob  at  once  calls  up 
1  urr.bie  associations. 


xix.  I-25.] 


AT  SINAI. 


273 


ness  gave  to  man  a  real  dignity,  made  him  but  little 
lower  than  the  angels,  and  crowned  him  with  glory 
and  honour. 

Abolish  religion,  and  mankind  will  divide  into  two 
classes, — one  in  which  vanity,  unchecked  by  any 
spiritual  superior,  will  obey  no  restraints  of  law,  and 
another  of  which  the  conscious  pettiness  will  aspire 
to  no  dignity  of  holiness,  and  shrink  from  no  dishonour 
of  sin.  It  is  only  the  presence  of  a  loving  God  which 
can  unite  in  us  the  sense  of  humility  and  greatness,  as 
having  nothing  and  yet  possessing  all  things,  and 
valued  by  God  as  His  “peculiar  treasure.”* 

And  with  a  reasonable  self-respect  should  come  a 
noble  and  yet  sober  dignity — “  Ye  shall  be  a  kingdom 
of  priests,”  a  dynasty  (for  such  is  the  meaning)  of 
persons  invested  with  royal  and  also  with  priestly  rank. 
This  was  spoken  just  before  the  law  gave  the  priest¬ 
hood  into  the  hands  of  one  tribe ;  and  thus  we  learn 
that  Levi  and  Aaron  were  not  to  supplant  the  nation, 
but  to  represent  it. 

Now,  this  double  rank  is  the  property  of  redeemed 
humanity  :  we  are  “  a  kingdom  and  priests  unto  God.” 
Yet  the  laity  of  the  Corinthian  Church  were  rebuked 
for  a  self-asserting  and  mutinous  enjoyment  of  their 
rank :  “  Ye  have  reigned  as  kings  without  us  ” ;  and 
others  there  were  in  this  Christian  dispensation  who 
"  perished  in  the  gainsaying  of  Korah  ”  (1  Cor.  iv.  8  ; 
Jude  11). 

If  the  words  “  He  hath  made  us  a  kingdom  and 

*  This  word  is  the  same  which  occurs  in  the  verse  so  beautifully 
but  erroneously  rendered  “They  shall  be  Mine,  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts,  in  the  day  when  I  make  up  My  jewels”  (Mai.  iii.  IJ,  A.V.). 
“They  shall  be  Mine  ...  in  the  day  that  I  do  make,  even  a  peculiar 
treasure  ”  (R.V.). 

18 


274 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


priests  ”  furnish  any  argument  against  the  existence  of 
an  ordained  ministry  now,  then  there  should  have 
been  no  Jewish  priesthood,  for  the  same  words  are 
here.  And  is  it  supposed  that  this  assertion  only  began 
to  be  true  when  the  apostles  died  ?  Certainly  there  is 
a  kind  of  self-assertion  in  the  ministry  which  they  con¬ 
demn.  But  if  they  are  opposed  to  its  existence,  alas 
for  the  Pastoral  Epistles !  It  was  because  the  function 
belonged  to  all,  that  no  man  might  arrogate  it  who  was 
not  commissioned  to  act  on  behalf  of  all. 

But  while  the  individual  may  not  assert  himself  to 
the  unsettling  of  church  order,  the  privilege  is  still 
common  property.  All  believers  have  boldness  to 
enter  into  the  holiest  place  of  all.  All  are  called  upon 
to  rule  for  God  u  over  a  few  things,”  to  establish  a 
kingdom  of  God  within,  and  thus  to  receive  a  crown 
of  life,  and  to  sit  with  Jesus  upon  His  throne.  The 
very  honours  by  which  Israel  was  drawn  to  God  are 
offered  to  us  all,  as  it  is  written,  “  We  are  the  circum¬ 
cision/'  il  We  are  Abraham's  seed  and  heirs  according 
to  the  promise ''  (Phil.  iii.  3  ;  Gal.  iii.  29). 

To  this  appeal  the  nation  responded  gladly.  They 
could  feel  that  indeed  they  had  been  sustained  by 
God  as  the  eagle  bears  her  young — not  grasping  them 
in  her  claws,  like  other  birds,  but  as  if  enthroned 
between  her  wings,  and  sheltered  by  her  body,  which 
interposed  between  the  young  and  any  arrow  of  the 
hunter.  Thus,  say  the  Rabbinical  interpreters,  did 
the  pillar  of  cloud  intervene  between  Israel  and  the 
Egyptians.  If  the  image  were  to  be  pressed  so  far, 
we  could  now  find  a  much  closer  analogy  for  the  eagle 
“  preferring  itself  to  be  pierced  rather  than  to  witness 
the  death  of  its  young  ”  (Kalisch).  But  far  more 
tender,  and  very  touching  in  its  domestic  homeliness, 


xix.  I-25.] 


AT  SINAI. 


275 


is  the  metaphor  of  Him  Whose  discourses  teem  with 
allusions  to  the  Old  Testament,  yet  Who  preferred 
to  compare  Himself  to  a  hen  gathering  her  chickens 
under  her  wing. 

With  the  adhesion  of  Israel  to  the  covenant,  Moses 
returned  to  God.  And  the  Lord  said,  “Lo,  I  come  unto 
thee  in  a  thick  cloud,  that  the  people  may  hear  when  I 
speak  with  thee,  and  may  also  believe  thee  for  ever.” 

The  design  was  to  deepen  their  reverence  for  the 
Lawgiver  Whose  law  they  should  now  receive ;  to 
express  by  lessons,  not  more  dreadful  than  the  plagues 
of  Egypt,  but  more  vivid  and  sublime,  the  tremendous 
grandeur  of  Him  Who  was  making  a  covenant  with 
them,  Who  had  borne  them  on  His  wings  and  called 
them  His  firstborn  Son,  Whom  therefore  they  might 
be  tempted  to  approach  with  undue  familiarity,  were 
it  not  for  the  mountain  that  burned  up  to  heaven,  the 
voice  of  the  trumpet  waxing  louder  and  louder,  and  the 
Appearance  so  fearful  that  Moses  said,  tl  I  exceedingly 
fear  and  quake”  (to  c[)avra^6/j.evov — Heb.  xii.  21). 

When  thus  the  Deity  became  terrible,  the  envoy 
would  be  honoured  also. 

But  it  is  important  to  observe  that  these  terrible 
manifestations  were  to  cease.  Like  the  impressions 
produced  by  sickness,  by  sudden  deaths,  by  our  own 
imminent  danger,  the  emotion  would  subside,  but  the 
conviction  should  remain  :  they  should  believe  Moses 
for  ever.  Emotions  are  like  the  swellings  of  the 
Nile:  they  subside  again;  but  they  ought  to  leave 
a  fertilising  deposit  behind. 

That  the  impression  might  not  be  altogether  passive, 
and  therefore  ephemeral,  the  people  were  bidden 
to  “sanctify  themselves”;  all  that  is  common  and 
secular  must  be  suspended  for  awhile ;  and  it  is  worth 


276 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


notice  that,  as  when  the  family  of  Jacob  put  away 
their  strange  gods,  so  now  the  Israelites  must  wash 
their  clothes  (cf.  Gen.  xxxv.  2).  For  one’s  vestment 
is  a  kind  of  outer  self,  and  has  been  with  the  man  in 
the  old  occupations  from  which  he  desires  to  purify 
himself.  It  was  therefore  that  when  Jehu  was  made 
king,  and  when  Jesus  entered  Jerusalem  in  triumph, 
men  put  their  garments  under  their  chief  to  express 
their  own  subjection  (2  Kings  ix.  13;  Matt.  xxi.  7). 
Much  of  the  philosophy  of  Carlyle  is  latent  in  these 
ancient  laws  and  usages. 

Moreover,  the  mountain  was  to  be  fenced  from  the 
risk  of  profanation  by  any  sudden  impulsive  move¬ 
ment  of  the  crowd,  and  even  a  beast  that  touched 
it  should  be  slain  by  such  weapons  as  men  could 
hurl  without  themselves  pursuing  it.  Only  when  the 
trumpet  blew  a  long  summons  might  the  appointed 
ones  come  up  to  the  mount  (ver.  13). 

On  the  third  day,  after  a  soul-searching  interval, 
there  were  thunders  and  lightnings,  and  a  cloud,  and 
the  trumpet  blast ;  and  while  all  the  people  trembled, 
Moses  led  them  forth  to  meet  with  God.  Again  the 
narrative  reverts  to  the  terrible  phenomena — the  fire 
like  the  smoke  of  a  furnace  (called  by  an  Egyptian 
name  which  only  occurs  in  the  Pentateuch),  and  the 
whole  mountain  quaking.  Then,  since  his  commission 
vras  now  to  be  established,  Moses  spake,  and  the  Lord 
answered  him  with  a  voice.  And  when  he  again 
climbed  the  mountain,  it  became  necessary  to  send  him 
back  with  yet  another  warning,  whether  his  example 
was  in  danger  of  emboldening  others  to  exercise  their 
newly  given  priesthood,  or  the  very  excess  of  terror 
exercised  its  well-known  fascinating  power,  as  men  in 
a  burning  ship  have  been  seen  to  leap  into  the  flames. 


xix.  I-25.] 


AT  SINAI. 


277 


And  the  priests  also,  who  come  near  to  God,  should 
sanctify  themselves.  It  has  been  asked  who  these 
were,  since  the  Levitical  institutions  were  still  non¬ 
existent  (ver.  22,  cf.  24).  But  it  is  certain  that  the 
heads  of  houses  exercised  priestly  functions ;  and  it 
is  not  impossible  that  the  elders  of  Israel  who  came 
to  eat  before  God  with  Jethro  (xviii.  12)  had  begun 
to  perform  religious  functions  for  the  people.  Is  it 
supposed  that  the  nation  had  gone  without  religious 
services  for  three  months  ? 

It  has  been  remarked  by  many  that  the  law  of 
Moses  appealed  for  acceptance  to  popular  and  even 
democratic  sanctions.  The  covenant  was  ratified  by 
a  plebiscite.  The  tremendous  evidence  was  offered 
equally  to  all.  For,  said  St.  Augustine,  “as  it  was  fit 
that  the  law  which  was  given,  not  to  one  man  or  a 
few  enlightened  people,  but  to  the  whole  of  a  populous 
nation,  should  be  accompanied  by  awe-inspiring  signs, 
great  marvels  were  wrought  .  .  .  before  the  people" 
( De  Civ.  Dei,  x.  13). 

We  have  also  to  observe  the  contrast  between  the 
appearance  of  God  on  Sinai  and  His  manifestation  in 
Jesus.  And  this  also  was  strongly  wrought  out  by  an 
ancient  father,  who  represented  the  Virgin  Mary,  in 
the  act  of  giving  Jesus  into  the  hands  of  Simeon,  as 
saying,  “  The  blast  of  the  trumpet  does  not  now 
terrify  those  who  approach,  nor  a  second  time  does  the 
mountain,  all  on  fire,  cause  terror  to  those  who  come 
nigh,  nor  does  the  law  punish  relentlessly  those  who 
would  boldly  touch.  What  is  present  here  speaks  of 
love  to  man ;  what  is  apparent,  of  the  Divine  com¬ 
passion."  (Methodius  De  Sym.  et  Anna,  vii.) 

But  we  must  remember  that  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  regards  the  second  manifestation  as  the  more 


278 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


solemn  of  the  two,  for  this  very  reason  :  that  we  have 
not  come  to  a  burning  mountain,  or  to  mortal  penalties 
for  carnal  irreverence,  but  to  the  spiritual  mountain 
Zion,  to  countless  angels,  to  God  the  Judge,  to  the 
spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  and  to  Jesus  Christ. 
If  they  escaped  not,  when  they  refused  Him  Who 
warned  on  earth,  much  more  we,  who  turn  away  from 
Him  Who  warneth  from  heaven  (Heb.  xii.  18-25). 

There  is  a  question,  lying  far  behind  all  these,  which 
demands  attention. 

It  is  said  that  legends  of  wonderful  appearances  of 
the  gods  are  common  to  all  religions  ;  that  there  is 
no  reason  for  giving  credit  to  this  one  and  rejecting 
all  the  rest ;  and,  more  than  this,  that  God  absolutely 
could  not  reveal  Himself  by  sensuous  appearances, 
being  Himself  a  Spirit.  In  what  sense  and  to  what 
extent  God  can  be  said  to  have  really  revealed 
Himself,  we  shall  examine  hereafter.  At  present  it 
is  enough  to  ask  whether  human  love  and  hatred,  joy 
and  sorrow,  homage  and  scorn  can  manifest  themselves 
by  looks  and  tones,  by  the  open  palm  and  the  clenched 
fist,  by  laughter  and  tears,  by  a  bent  neck  and  by  a 
curled  lip.  For  if  what  is  most  immaterial  in  our  own 
soul  can  find  sensuous  expression,  it  is  somewhat  bold 
to  deny  that  a  majesty  and  power  beyond  anything 
human  may  at  least  be  conceived  as  finding  utterance, 
through  a  mountain  burning  to  the  summit  and  reeling 
to  the  base,  and  the  blast  of  a  trumpet  which  the 
people  could  not  hear  and  live. 

But  when  it  is  argued  that  wondrous  theophanies 
are  common  to  all  faiths,  two  replies  present  them¬ 
selves.  If  all  the  races  of  mankind  agree  in  believing 
that  there  is  a  God,  and  that  He  manifests  Himself 
wonderfully,  does  that  really  prove  that  there  is  no 


xix.  I-25.] 


AT  SINAI . 


279 


God,  or  even  that  He  never  manifested  Himself 
wondrously  ?  We  should  certainly  be  derided  if  we 
insisted  that  such  a  universal  belief  proved  the  truth 
of  the  story  of  Mount  Sinai,  and  perhaps  we  should 
deserve  our  fate.  But  it  is  more  absurd  by  far  to 
pretend  that  this  instinct,  this  intuition,  this  universal 
expectation  that  God  would  some  day,  somewhere, 
rend  the  veil  which  hides  Him,  does  actually  refute 
the  narrative. 

We  have  also  to  ask  for  the  production  of  those 
other  narratives,  sublime  in  their  conception  and  in  the 
vast  audience  which  they  challenged,  sublimely  pure 
alike  from  taint  of  idolatrous  superstition  and  of  moral 
evil,  profound  and  far-reaching  in  their  practical  effect 
upon  humanity,  which  deserve  to  be  so  closely 
associated  with  the  giving  of  the  Mosaic  law  that 
in  their  collapse  it  also  must  be  destroyed,  as  the  fall 
of  one  tree  sometimes  breaks  the  next.  But  this 
narrative  stands  out  so  far  in  the  open,  and  lifts  its 
head  so  high,  that  no  other  even  touches  a  bough  of 
it  when  overturned. 

Is  it  seriously  meant  to  compare  the  alleged  dis¬ 
appearance  of  Romulus,  or  the  secret  interviews  of 
Numa  with  his  Egeria,  to  a  history  like  this?  Surely 
one  similar  story  should  be  produced,  before  it  is 
asserted  that  such  stories  are  everywhere. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


THE  LAW. 


xx.  1-17, 


E  have  now  reached  that  great  event,  one  of  the 


V  V  most  momentous  in  all  history,  the  giving  of 
the  Ten  Commandments.  And  it  is  necessary  to  con¬ 
sider  what  was  the  meaning  of  this  event,  what  part 
were  they  designed  to  play  in  the  religious  development 
of  mankind. 

1.  St.  Paul  tells  us  plainly  what  they  did  not  effect. 
By  the  works  of  the  law  could  no  flesh  be  justified :  to 
the  father  of  the  Hebrew  race  faith  was  reckoned 
instead  of  righteousness ;  the  first  of  their  royal  line 
coveted  the  blessedness  not  of  the  obedient  but  of  the 
pardoned  ;  and  Habakkuk  declared  that  the  just  should 
live  by  his  faith,  while  the  law  is  not  of  faith,  and 
offers  life  only  to  the  man  that  doeth  these  things 
(Rom.  iv.  3,  6;  Gal.  iii.  12).  In  the  doctrinal  scheme 
of  St.  Paul  there  was  no  room  for  a  compromise 
between  salvation  by  faith  and  reliance  upon  our  own 
performance  of  any  works,  even  those  simple  and 
obvious  duties  which  are  of  world-wide  obligation. 

2.  But  he  never  meant  to  teach  that  a  Christian  is 
free  from  the  obligation  of  the  moral  law.  If  it  is  not 
true  that  we  can  keep  it  and  so  earn  heaven,  it  is 
equally  false  that  we  may  break  it  without  penalty  or 


xx.  i-i 7-1 


THE  LAW. 


281 


remorse.  What  he  insisted  upon  was  this  :  that  obliga¬ 
tion  is  one  thing,  and  energy  is  another ;  the  law  is 
good,  but  it  has  not  the  gift  of  pardon  or  of  inspiration  ; 
by  itself  it  will  only  reveal  the  feebleness  of  him  who 
endeavours  to  perform  it,  only  force  into  direst  con¬ 
trast  the  spiritual  beauty  of  the  pure  ideal  and  the 
wretchedness  of  the  sinner,  carnal,  sold  under  sin.  In 
this  respect,  indeed,  the  law  was  its  own  witness.  For 
if,  among  all  the  millions  of  its  children,  one  had  lived 
by  obedience,  how  could  he  have  shared  in  its  elaborate 
sacrificial  apparatus,  in  the  hallowing  of  the  altar  from 
pollution  by  the  national  uncleanness,  in  the  sprinkling 
of  the  blood  of  the  offering  for  sin  ?  Take  the  case 
of  the  highest  official.  A  sinless  high  priest  under  the 
law  would  have  been  paralysed  by  his  virtue,  for  his 
duty  on  the  greatest  day  of  all  the  year  was  to  make 
atonement  first  for  his  own  sins. 

3.  The  law  being  an  authorised  statement  of  what 
innocence  means,  and  therefore  of  the  only  terms  upon 
which  a  man  might  hope  to  live  by  works,  is  an 
organic  whole,  and  we  either  keep  it  as  a  whole  or 
break  it.  Such  is  the  meaning  of  the  words,  he  that 
offendeth  in  one  point  is  guilty  of  all ;  because  He  who 
gave  the  seventh  commandment  gave  also  the  sixth — so 
that  if  one  commit  no  adultery,  yet  kill,  he  has  become 
a  transgressor  of  the  law  in  its  integrity  (James  ii.  11). 
The  challenge  of  God  to  human  self-righteousness  is 
not  one  which  can  be  half  met.  If  we  have  not 
thoroughly  kept  it,  we  have  thoroughly  failed. 

4.  But  this  failure  of  man  does  not  involve  any 
failure,  in  the  law,  to  accomplish  its  intended  work.  It 
is,  as  has  been  said,  a  challenge.  The  sense  of  our 
inability  to  meet  it  is  the  best  introduction  to  Him 
Who  came  not  to  call  the  righteous  but  sinners  to 


2  82 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


repentance,  and  thus  the  law  became  a  tutor  to  bring 
men  to  Christ.  It  awoke  the  conscience,  brought 
home  the  sense  of  guilt,  and  entered,  that  sin  might 
abound  in  us,  whose  ignorance  had  not  known  sin 
without  it.  It  was  strictly  that  which  Moses  most 
frequently  calls  it — the  Testimony. 

5.  Finally,  however,  the  teaching  of  Scripture  is  not 
that  Christians  are  condemned  to  live  always  in  a 
condition  of  baffled  striving,  hopeless  longing,  con¬ 
scious  transgression  of  a  code  which  testifies  against 
them.  The  old  and  carnal  nature  gravitates  down¬ 
ward,  to  selfishness  and  sin,  as  surely  as  by  a  law 
of  the  physical  universe.  But  the  law  of  the  spirit 
of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  emancipates  us  from  that  law 
of  sin  and  death — the  higher  nature  doing,  by  the  very 
quality  of  its  life,  what  the  lower  nature  cannot  be 
driven  to  do,  by  dread  of  hell  or  by  desire  of  heaven. 
The  creature  of  earth  becomes  a  creature  of  air,  and 
is  at  home  in  a  new  sphere,  poised  on  its  wings  upon 
the  breeze.  Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law.  And 
the  Christian  is  free  from  its  dictation,  as  affectionate 
men  are  free  from  any  control  of  the  laws  which 
command  the  maintenance  of  wife  and  child,  not 
because  they  may  defy  the  statutes,  but  because  their 
volition  and  the  statutes  concide.  Liberty  is  not 
lawlessness — it  is  the  reciprocal  harmony  of  law  and 
the  will. 

And  thus  the  grand  paradox  of  Luther  is  entirely 
true:  “Unless  faith  be  without  any,  even  the  smallest 
works,  it  does  not  justify,  nay,  it  is  not  faith.  And  yet 
it  is  impossible  for  faith  to  be  without  works — earnest, 
many  and  great.”  We  are  justified  by  faith  without 
the  works  of  the  law,  and  yet  we  do  not  make  void 
the  law  by  faith — nay,  we  establish  the  law. 


XX.  1-17.3 


THE  LAW. 


283 


All  this  agrees  exactly  with  the  contrast,  so  often 
urged,  between  the  giving  of  the  Law  and  the  utterance 
of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  The  former  echoes 
across  wild  heights,  and  through  savage  ravines ;  the 
latter  is  heard  on  the  grassy  slopes  of  the  hillside  which 
overlooks  the  smiling  Lake  of  Galilee.  The  one  is 
spoken  in  thunder  and  graven  upon  stone :  the  other 
comes  from  the  lips,  into  which  grace  is  poured,  of 
Him  Who  was  fairer  than  the  children  of  men.  The 
former  repeats  again  and  again  the  stern  warning, 
“Thou  shalt  not!”  The  latter  crowns  a  sevenfold 
description  of  a  blessedness,  which  is  deeper  than  joy, 
though  pensive  and  even  weeping,  by  adding  to  these 
abstract  descriptions  an  eighth,  which  applies  them, 
and  assumes  them  to  be  realised  in  His  hearers — 
u  Blessed  are  ye."  If  so  much  as  a  beast  touched  the 
mountain  it  should  be  stoned.  But  Simeon  took  the 
Divine  Infant  in  his  arms. 

And  this  is  not  because  God  has  become  gentler,  or 
man  worthier:  it  is  because  God  the  Law-giver  upon 
His  throne  has  come  down  to  be  God  the  Helper. 
But  the  beatitudes  could  never  have  been  spoken,  if 
the  law  had  not  been  imposed  :  the  blessedness  of  a 
hunger  and  thirst  for  righteousness  was  created  by 
the  majestic  and  spiritual  beauty  of  the  unattained 
commandment. 

Yes,  it  had  a  spiritual  beauty.  For,  however  formal, 
external,  and  even  shallow,  the  commandments  may 
appear  to  flippant  modern  babblers,  St.  Paul  bewailed 
the  contrast  between  the  law,  which  was  spiritual,  and 
his  own  carnal  heart.  And  he,  who  had  kept  all  the 
letter  from  his  youth,  was  only  the  more  vexed  and 
haunted  by  the  fleeting  consciousness  of  a  higher 
“good  thing’  unattained.  Did  not  one  table  say 


284 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


“Thou  shalt  not  covet,”  and  the  other  promise  mercy 
to  thousands  of  those  that  love  ? 

This  leads  us  to  consider  the  structure  and  arrange¬ 
ment  of  the  Decalogue.  Scripture  itself  tells  us  that 
there  were  “  ten  words  ”  or  precepts,  written  upon 
both  sides  of  two  tables.  But  various  answers  have 
been  given  at  different  times,  to  the  question,  How 
shall  we  divide  the  ten  ? 

The  Jews  of  a  later  period  made  a  first  command¬ 
ment  of  the  words,  "  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,”  which 
is  not  a  commandment  at  all.  And  they  restored  the 
proper  number,  thus  exceeded,  by  uniting  in  one  the 
prohibition  of  other  gods  and  of  idolatry;  although 
the  worship  of  the  golden  calf,  almost  immediately 
after  the  law  was  given,  suffices  to  establish  the  dis¬ 
tinction.  For  then,  as  well  as  under  Gideon,  Micah 
and  Jeroboam,  the  sin  of  idolatry  fell  short  of  apostasy 
to  a  wholly  different  god  (Judg.  viii.  23,  27,  xvii.  3,  5  ; 
I  Kings  xii.  28).  The  worship  of  images  dishonours 
God,  even  if  it  be  His  semblance  that  they  claim.  In 
this  arrangement,  the  tables  were  allotted  five  com¬ 
mandments  each. 

Another  curious  arrangement  was  devised,  apparently 
by  St.  Augustine ;  and  the  weight  of  his  authority 
imposed  it  upon  Western  Christianity  until  the  Re¬ 
formation,  and  upon  the  Latin  and  Lutheran  churches 
unto  this  day.  Like  the  former,  it  adds  the  second 
commandment  to  the  first,  but  it  divides  the  tenth. 
And  it  gives  to  the  first  table  three  commandments, 
“since  the  number  of  commandments  which  concern 
God  seem  to  hint  at  the  Trinity  to  careful  students,” 
while  the  seven  commandments  of  the  second  table 
suggest  the  Sabbath.  Such  mystical  references  are 
no  longer  weighty  arguments.  And  the  proposed 


XX.  I -1 7.3 


THE  LAW. 


2S5 


division  of  the  tenth  commandment  seems  quite  pre¬ 
cluded  by  the  fact  that  in  Exodus  we  read,  “Thou 
shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbour’s  house  nor  his  wife," 
while  in  Deuteronomy  the  order  is  reversed ;  so  that 
its  advocates  are  divided  among  themselves  as  to 
whether  the  coveting  of  a  house  or  a  wife  is  to  attain 
the  dignity  of  separate  mention. 

The  ordinary  English  arrangement  assigns  to  the 
tables  four  commandments  and  six  respectively.  And 
the  noble  catechism  of  the  Church  of  England  appears 
to  sanction  this  arrangement  by  including  among  “  my 
duties  to  my  neighbour"  that  of  loving,  honouring  and 
succouring  my  father  and  mother.  There  are  several 
objections  to  this  arrangement.  It  is  unsymmetrical. 
There  seems  to  be  something  more  sacred  and  divine 
about  my  relationship  with  my  father  and  mother  than 
those  which  connect  me  with  my  neighbour.  The 
first  table  begins  with  the  gravest  offence,  and  steadily 
declines  to  the  lowest ;  sin  against  the  unique  per¬ 
sonality  of  God  being  followed  by  sin  against  His 
spirituality  of  nature,  His  name,  and  His  holy  day. 
If  now  the  sin  against  His  earthly  representative,  the 
very  fountain  and  sanction  of  all  law  to  childhood,  be 
added  to  the  first  table,  the  same  order  will  pervade 
those  of  the  second — namely,  sin  against  my  neighbour’s 
life,  his  family,  his  property,  his  reputation,  and  lastly, 
his  interest  in  my  inner  self,  in  the  wishes  that  are 
unspoken,  the  thoughts  and  feelings  which 

“I  wad  nae  tell  to  nae  man.” 

We  thus  obtain  both  the  simplest  division  and  the 
clearest  arrangement.  In  Romans  xiii.  9  the  fifth  com¬ 
mandment  is  not  enumerated  when  rehearsing  the 
actions  which  transgress  the  second  table.  In  the 


286 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


Hebrew  text  of  Deuteronomy  all  the  later  command¬ 
ments  are  joined  with  the  sixth  by  the  copulative 
(represented  along  with  the  negative  fairly  enough  in 
our  English  by  “Neither”),  which  seems  to  indicate 
that  these  five  W’ere  united  together  in  the  author’s 
mind.  But  the  fifth  stands  alone,  like  all  those  of 
the  first  table.  Now',  it  is  clear  that  such  an  arrange¬ 
ment  gives  great  sanction  and  weight  to  the  sacred 
institution  of  the  family. 

Finally,  the  comprehensiveness  and  spirituality  of 
the  law  may  be  observed  in  this ;  that  the  first  table 
forbids  sin  against  God  in  thought,  word  and  deed ; 
and  the  second  table  forbids  sin  against  man  in  deed, 
w'ord  and  thought. 


THE  PROLOGUE. 

XX.  2. 

The  Decalogue  is  introduced  by  the  wrords  u  I  am 
the  Lord  thy  God,  w'hich  brought  thee  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  bondage.” 

Here,  and  in  the  previous  chapter,  is  already  a  great 
advance  upon  the  time  when  it  was  said  to  them  u  The 
God  of  thy  fathers,  the  God  of  Abraham,  of  Isaac,  and 
of  Jacob,  hath  appeared.”  Now  they  are  expected  to 
remember  what  He  has  done  for  themselves.  For, 
although  religion  must  begin  with  testimony,  it  ought 
always  to  grow  up  into  an  experience.  Thus  it  was 
that  many  of  the  Samaritans  believed  on  Jesus  because 
of  the  word  of  the  woman  ;  but  presently  they  said, 
“  Now  wTe  believe,  not  because  of  thy  speaking,  for  we 
have  heard  Him  ourselves,  and  know.”  And  thus  the 
disciples  who  heard  John  the  Baptist  speak,  and  so 
followed  Jesus,  having  come  and  seen  where  He  abode, 
could  say,  “  We  have  found  the  Messiah.” 


XX.  2.] 


THE  PROLOGUE . 


2S7 


This  prologue  is  vitally  connected  with  both  tables 
of  the  law.  In  relation  to  the  first,  it  recognises  the 
instinct  of  worship  in  the  human  heart.  In  vain  shall 
we  say  Do  not  worship  idols,  until  the  true  object  of 
adoration  is  supplied,  for  the  heart  must  and  will 
prostrate  itself  at  some  shrine.  A  leader  of  modern 
science  confesses  "  the  immovable  basis  of  the 
religious  sentiment  in  the  nature  of  man/'  adding  that 
il  to  yield  this  sentiment  reasonable  satisfaction  is 
the  problem  of  problems  at  the  present  hour.”  *  It 
is  indeed  a  problem  for  the  unbelief  which,  because  it 
professes  to  be  scientific,  cannot  shut  its  eyes  to  the 
fact  that  men  whose  faith  in  Christ  has  suffered  ship¬ 
wreck  are  everywhere  seen  to  be  clinging  to  strange 
planks — spiritualism,  esoteric  Buddhism,  and  other 
superstitions, — which  prove  that  man  must  and  will 
reverence  something  more  than  streams  of  tendencies, 
or  beneficial  results  to  the  greatest  numbers.  The 
Law  of  Moses  abolishes  superstition  by  no  mere 
negation,  but  by  the  proclamation  of  a  true  God. 

Moreover,  it  declares  that  this  God  is  knowable, 
which  flatly  contradicts  the  brave  assertion  of  modern 
agnostics  that  the  notion  of  a  God  is  not  even  “think¬ 
able.”  That  assertion  is  a  bald  and  barren  platitude 
in  the  only  sense  in  which  it  is  not  contrary  to  the 
experience  of  all  mankind.  As  we  cannot  form  a 
complete  and  perfect,  nor  even  an  adequate  notion  of 
God,  so  no  man  ever  yet  conceived  a  complete  and 
adequate  notion  of  his  neighbour,  nor  indeed  of  himself. 
But  as  we  can  form  a  notion  of  one  another,  dim  and 


*  Trof.  Tyndall,  Belfast  Address,  p.  60.  What  progress  has 
scientific  unbelief  made  since  1874  in  solving  this  “question  of 
questions  for  the  present  hour  ”  ?  It  has  perfected  the  phonograph, 
but  it  has  not  devised  a  creed. 


288 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


fragmentary  indeed,  yet  more  or  less  accurate  and  fit 
to  guide  our  actions,  so  has  every  nation  and  every 
man  formed  some  notion  of  deity.  Nor  could  even 
the  agnostic  declare  that  God  is  unthinkable,  unless 
the  word  God,  of  which  he  makes  this  assertion, 
conveyed  to  him  some  idea,  some  thought,  more  or 
less  worthy  of  the  thinking.  The  ancient  Jew  never 
dreamed  that  he  could  search  out  the  Almighty  to 
perfection,  yet  God  was  known  to  him  by  His  actions 
(the  only  means  by  which  we  know  our  fei  low-men) ; 
and  the  combined  terror  and  loving-kindness  of  these 
at  once  warned  him  against  revolt,  and  appealed  to  his 
loyalty  for  obedience. 

In  relation  to  the  second  table,  the  prologue  was 
both  an  argument  and  an  appeal.  Why  should  a  man 
hope  to  prosper  by  estranging  his  best  Friend,  his 
Emancipator  and  Guide  ?  And  even  if  disobedience 
could  obtain  some  paltry  advantage,  how  base  would 
he  be  who  snatched  at  it,  when  forbidden  by  the 
God  Who  broke  his  chains,  and  brought  him  out  of 
the  house  of  bondage — a  Benefactor  not  ungenial  and 
remote,  but  One  Who  enters  into  closest  relations  with 
him,  calling  Himself  “  Thy  God  ”  1 

Now,  a  greater  emancipation  and  a  closer  personal 
relationship  belong  to  the  Church  of  Christ.  When 
a  Christian  hears  that  God  is  unthinkable,  he  ought 
to  be  able  to  answer,  'God  is  my  God,  and  He  has 
brought  my  soul  out  of  its  house  of  bondage.' 

Moreover,  his  emancipation  by  Christ  from  many 
sins  and  inner  slaveries  ought  to  be  a  fact  plain  enough 
to  constitute  the  sorest  of  problems  to  the  observing 
world. 

It  must  be  observed,  besides,  that  the  Law,  which 
was  the  centre  of  Judaism,  does  not  appeal  chiefly  to 


XX.  3] 


THE  FIRST  COMMANDMENT 


289 


the  meaner  side  of  human  nature.  Hell  is  not  yet 
known,  for  the  depths  of  eternity  could  not  be  un¬ 
covered  before  the  clouds  had  rolled  away  from  its 
heights  of  love  and  condescension;  or  else  the  sanity 
and  balance  of  human  nature  would  have  been  over¬ 
thrown.  But  even  temporal  judgments  are  not  set  in 
the  foremost  place.  As  St.  Paul,  who  knew  the  terrors 
of  the  Lord,  more  commonly  and  urgently  besought 
men  by  the  mercies  of  God,  so  were  the  ancient 
Jews,  under  the  burning  mountain,  reminded  rather 
of  what  God  had  bestowed  upon  them,  than  of  what 
He  might  inflict  if  they  provoked  Him.  And  our 
gratitude,  like  theirs,  should  be  excited  by  His  temporal 
as  well  as  His  spiritual  gifts  to  us. 

THE  FIRST  COMMANDMENT. 

41  Thou  shall  have  none  other  gods  before  Me.” — xx.  3. 

When  these  words  fell  upon  the  ears  of  Israel, 
they  conveyed,  as  their  primary  thought,  a  prohibition 
of  the  formal  worship  of  rival  deities,  Egyptian  or 
Sidonian  gods.  Following  immediately  upon  the  pro¬ 
clamation  of  Jehovah,  their  own  God,  they  declared  His 
intolerance  of  rivalr}',  and  enjoined  a  strict  and  jealous 
monotheism.  For  God  was  a  reality.  Races  who  wor¬ 
shipped  idealisations  or  personifications  might  easily 
make  room  for  other  poetic  embodiments  of  human 
thought  and  feeling ;  but  Jehovah  would  vindicate  His 
rights.  He  had  proved  himself  very  real  in  Egypt. 
Other  gods  would  not  displace  Him :  He  would 
observe  them:  they  would  be  “before  Me."*  God 
dees  not  quit  the  scene  when  man  forgets  Him. 


*  “Or  beside  Me"  (R.V.)  The  preposition  is  so  vague  that  either 
of  our  English  words  may  suggest  quite  too  definite  a  meaning,  as 


19 


2go 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


Now,  it  is  hard  for  us  to  realise  the  charm  which 
the  worship  of  false  gods  possessed  for  ancient  Israel. 
To  comprehend  it  we  must  reflect  upon  the  universal 
ignorance  which  made  every  phenomenon  of  nature 
a  portentous  manifestation  of  mysterious  and  varied 
power,  which  they  could  by  no  means  trace  back  to 
a  common  origin,  while  the  crash  and  discord  of  the 
results  appeared  to  indicate  opposing  wills  behind. 
We  must  reflect  how  closely  akin  is  awe  to  worship, 
and  how  blind  and  unintelligent  was  the  awe  which 
storm  and  earthquake  and  pestilence  then  excited. 
We  must  remember  the  pressure  upon  them  of 
surrounding  superstitions  armed  with  all  the  civili¬ 
sation  and  art  of  their  world.  Above  all,  we  must 
consider  that  the  gods  which  seduced  them  were  not 
of  necessity  supreme :  homage  to  them  was  very  fairly 
consistent  with  a  reservation  of  the  highest  place  for 
another ;  so  that  false  worship  in  its  early  stages 
need  not  have  been  much  more  startling  than  belief  in 
witchcraft,  or  in  the  paltry  and  unimaginative  11  spirits  ” 
which,  in  our  own  day,  are  reputed  to  play  the  banjo 
in  a  dark  room,  and  to  untie  knots  in  a  cabinet.  Is 
it  for  us  to  deride  them  ? 

To  oppose  all  such  tendencies,  the  Lord  appealed 
not  to  philosophy  and  sound  reason.  These  are  not 
the  parents  of  monotheism  :  the}'  are  the  fruit  of  it. 
And  so  is  our  modern  science.  Its  fundamental 
principle  is  faith  in  the  unity  of  nature,  and  in  the 
extent  to  which  the  same  laws  which  govern  our  little 
world  reach  through  the  vast  universe.  And  that 
faith  is  directly  traceable  to  the  conviction  that  all  the 
universe  is  the  work  of  the  same  Hand. 


when  “before  Me”  is  made  to  mean  “in  My  angry  eyes,”  or  “beside 
Me  ”  is  taken  to  hint  at  resentment  for  intrusion  upon  the  same  throne, 


XX.  3.] 


THE  FIRST  COMMANDMENT 


291 


“  One  God,  one  law,  one  element ;  ” — the  preaching 
of  the  first  was  sure  to  suggest  the  other  two.  Nor 
could  any  race  which  believed  in  a  multitude  of  gods 
labour  earnestly  to  reduce  various  phenomena  to  one 
cause.  Monotheism  is  therefore  the  parent  of  correct 
thinking,  and  could  not  draw  its  sanctions  thence. 
No  :  the  law  appeals  to  the  historical  experience  of 
Israel ;  it  is  content  to  stand  and  fall  by  that;  if  they 
acknowledged  the  claim  of  God  upon  their  loyalty,  all 
the  rest  followed.  Their  own  story  made  good  this 
claim.  And  so  does  the  whole  story  of  the  Church, 
and  the  whole  inner  life  of  every  man  who  knows 
anything  of  himself,  bear  witness  to  the  religion  of 
Jesus. 

Never  let  us  weary  of  repeating  that  while  we  have 
ample  controversial  resource,  while  no  missile  can 
pierce  the  chain-armour  of  the  Christian  evidences, 
connected  and  interwoven  into  a  great  wThole,  and 
while  the  infidelity  which  is  called  scientific  is  really 
infidel  only  so  far  as  it  begs  its  case  (which  is  an 
unscientific  thing  to  do),  nevertheless  the  strength  of 
our  position  is  experimental.  If  the  experience  which 
testifies  to  Jesus  were  historical  alone,  I  might  refuse 
to  give  it  credit  :  if  it  were  only  personal,  I  might 
ascribe  it  to  enthusiasm.  But  as  long  as  a  great  cloud 
of  living  witnesses,  and  all  the  history  of  the  Church, 
declare  the  reality  of  His  salvation,  while  I  myself  feel 
the  sufficiency  of  what  He  offers  (or  else  the  bitter 
need  of  it),  so  long  the  question  is  not  between  con¬ 
flicting  theories,  but  between  theories  and  facts.  To 
have  another  god  is  to  place  him  beside  One  Whom 
wre  already  have,  and  Who  has  wrought  for  us  the 
great  emancipation.  It  is  not  an  error  in  theological 
science :  it  is  ingratitude  and  treason. 


292 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


But  it  very  soon  became  evident  that  men  could 
apostatise  from  God  otherwise  than  in  formal  worship, 
chant  and  sacrifice  and  prostration:  “This  people 
honoureth  me  with  their  mouths,  but  their  hearts  are 
far  from  Me.”  God  asks  for  love  and  trust,  and  our 
litanies  should  express  and  cultivate  these.  Whatever 
steals  away  these  from  the  Lord  is  really  His  rival, 
and  another  god.  “  What  is  it  to  have  a  God  ? 
or  what  is  God  ?  ”  Luther  asks.  And  he  answers, 
“  He  is  God,  and  is  so  called,  from  Whose  goodness 
and  power  thou  dost  confidently  promise  all  good 
things  to  thyself,  and  to  Whom  thou  dost  fly  from  all 
adverse  affairs  and  pressing  perils.  So  that  to  have  a 
God  is  nothing  else  than  to  trust  Him  and  believe  in 
Him  with  all  the  heart,  even  as  I  have  often  alleged 
that  the  reliance  of  the  heart  constitutes  alike  one’s 
God  and  one’s  idol.  ...  In  what  thing  soever  thou 
hast  thy  mind’s  reliance  and  thine  heart  fixed,  that  is 
beyond  doubt  thy  God”  ( Larger  Catechism). 

And  again  :  “  What  sort  of  religion  is  this,  to  bow 
not  the  knees  to  riches  and  honour,  but  to  offer  them 
the  noblest  part  of  you,  the  heart  and  mind  ?  It  is  to 
worship  the  true  God  outwardly  and  in  the  flesh,  but 
the  creature  inwardly  and  in  spirit”  ( X .  Prcecepta 
Wilt.  Prccdicata). 

It  was  on  this  ground  that  he  included  charms  and 
spells  among  the  sins  against  this  commandment, 
because,  though  “they  seem  foolish  rather  than  wicked, 
yet  do  they  lead  to  this  too  grave  result,  that  men 
learn  to  rely  upon  the  creature  in  trifles,  and  so  fail  in 
great  things  to  rely  upon  God”  {Ibid.) 

This  view  of  false  worship  is  frequent  in  Scripture 
itself.  The  Chaldeans  were  idolaters  of  an  elaborate 
and  imposing  ritual,  but  their  true  deities  were  not  to 


XX.  3-] 


THE  FIRST  COMMANDMENT. 


293 


be  found  in  temples.  They  adored  what  they  really 
trusted  upon,  and  that  was  their  military  prowess — the 
god  of  the  modern  commander,  who  said  that  Provi¬ 
dence  sided  with  the  big  battalions.  The  Chaldean 
is  “  he  whose  might  is  his  god,”  whereas  the  sacred 
wrarrior  has  the  Lord  for  his  strength  and  shield  and 
very  present  help  in  battle.  Nay,  regarding  men  “  as 
the  fishes  of  the  sea,"  and  his  own  vast  armaments 
as  the  fisher’s  apparatus  to  sweep  them  away,  the 
Chaldean,  it  is  said,  “sacrificeth  unto  his  net,  and 
burneth  incense  unto  his  drag ;  because  by  them  his 
portion  is  fat  and  his  meat  plenteous"  (Hab.  i.  II, 
14-16).  Multitudes  of  humbler  people  practise  a  simi¬ 
lar  idolatry.  They  say  to  God  “  Give  us  this  day  our 
daily  bread  " ;  but  they  really  ascribe  their  maintenance 
to  their  profession  or  their  trade  ;  and  so  this  is  the 
true  object  of  their  homage.  They,  too,  burn  incense 
to  their  drag. 

Others  had  no  thought  of  a  higher  blessedness  than 
animal  enjoyment.  Their  god  was  their  belly.  They 
set  the  excitement  of  wine  in  the  place  of  the  fulness 
of  the  Spirit,  or  preferred  some  depraved  union  upon 
earth  to  the  honour  of  being  one  spirit  with  the  Lord 
(Phil.  iii.  19;  Eph.  v.  18;  I  Cor.  vi.  16,  17).  And 
some  tried  to  combine  the  world  and  righteousness ; 
not  to  lose  heaven  while  grasping  wealth,  and  receiving 
here  not  only  good  things,  but  the  only  good  things 
they  acknowledged — their  good  things  (Luke  xvi.  25). 
As  the  Samaritans  feared  the  Lord  and  served  graven 
images,  so  these  were  fain  to  serve  God  and  mammon 
(2  Kings  xvii.  41  ;  Matt.  vi.  24). 

Now,  these  departures  from  the  true  Centre  of  all 
love  and  Source  of  all  light  w*ere  really  a  homage  to 
His  great  rival,  “  the  god  of  this  world."  Whenever 


294 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


men  seek  to  obtain  any  prize  by  departing  from  God 
they  do  reverence  to  him  who  falsely  said  of  all  the 
kingdoms  of  the  earth,  and  their  glory,  “  These  things 
are  delivered  unto  me,  and  to  whomsoever  I  will  I  give 

them. ”  They  deny  Him  to  Whom  indeed  all  power 
is  committed  in  heaven  and  earth. 

What  is  the  remedy,  then,  for  all  such  formal  or 
virtual  apostasies?  It  is  to  “have”  the  true  God — 
which  means,  not  only  to  know  and  confess,  but  to 
be  in  real  relationship  with  Him. 

Despite  His  so-called  self-sufficiency,  man  is  not 
very  self-sufficing,  after  all.  The  vast  endowments  of 
Julius  Caesar  did  not  prevent  him  from  chafing  because, 
at  the  age  when  he  was  still  obscure,  Alexander  had 
conquered  the  world.  To  be  Julius  Caesar  was  not 
enough  for  him.  Nor  is  any  man  able  to  stand  alone. 
In  the  Old  Testament  Joshua  said,  “  If  it  seem  evil 
unto  you  to  serve  the  Lord,  choose  you  this  day  whom 
37e  will  serve,” — imptying  that  they  must  obey  some 
one  and  will  do  better  to  choose  a  service  than  to  drift 
into  one  (Josh.  xxiv.  15).  And  in  the  New  Testament 
Jesus  declared  that  no  man  can  serve  two  masters  ; 
but  added  that  he  w7ould  not  break  with  both  and  go 
free,  he  was  sure  to  love  and  cleave  to  one  of  them. 
Now,  he  only  is  proof  against  apostasy,  wTho  has 
realised  the  wants  of  the  soul  within  him,  and  the 
pow'erlessness  of  all  creatures  to  satisfy  or  save,  and 

then,  turning  to  the  cress  of  Christ,  has  found  his 
sufficiency  in  Him.  “Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go? 
Thou  hast  the  words  of  everlasting  life.”  Marvellous 
it  is  to  think  that  underneath  the  stern  wrords  “Thou 
shalt  have  none  other,”  lies  all  the  condescension  of 
the  privilege  “  Thou  shalt  have  .  .  .  Me.” 


£x.  4-6.] 


THE  SECOND  COMMANDMENT. 


295 


THE  SECOND  COMMANDMENT. 

“Thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thee  a  graven  image,  .  .  .  thou  shalt 
not  bow  down  thyself  unto  them,  nor  serve  them.”— xx.  4-6. 

How  far  does  the  second  of  these  clauses  modify  the 
first  ?  Men  there  are  who  maintain  the  severe  inde- 
pendence  of  the  former,  so  that  it  forbids  the  presence 
of  any  image  or  likeness  in  the  house  of  God,  even  for 
innocent  purposes  of  adornment.  But  the  Decalogue 
is  not  a  liturgical  directory  :  what  it  forbids  in  church 
it  forbids  anywhere  ;  and  on  this  theory  the  statues 
in  Parliament  Square  would  be  idolatrous,  as  wrell  as 
those  in  Westminster  Abbey.  And  such  Christians 
are  more  Judaical  than  the  Jews,  who  were  taught  to 
place  in  the  very  Holy  of  Holies  golden  cherubim 
overshadowing  the  mercy-seat,  and  to  represent  them 
again  upon  its  curtains. 

It  is  therefore  plain  that  the  precept  never  forbade 
imagery,  but  idolatry,  which  is  the  making  of  images 
to  satisfy  the  craving  of  men’s  hearts  for  a  sensuous 
worship — the  making  of  them  “  unto  thee."  The 
second  clause  qualifies  and  elucidates  the  first.  And 
what  the  commandment  prohibits  is  any  attempt  to 
help  our  worship  by  representing  the  object  of 
adoration  to  the  senses. 

The  higher  and  more  subtle  idolatries  do  not 
conceive  that  wood  or  gold  is  actually  transformed 
into  their  deities ;  but  only  that  the  deities  are  locally 
present  in  the  images,  which  express  their  attributes — 
power  in  a  hundred  hands,  beneficence  in  a  hundred 
breasts.  But  in  thus  expressing,  they  degrade  and 
cramp  the  conception. 

They  may  perhaps  evade  the  reproach  of  Isaiah  that 
they  w7arm  themselves  with  a  portion  of  timber,  and 


296 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


roast  meat  with  another  portion,  and  make  the  remain¬ 
der  a  god  (Isa.  xliv.  15-17),  by  urging  that  the  timber 
is  not  the  god,  but  an  abode  which  he  chooses  because 
it  expresses  his  specific  qualities.  But  they  cannot 
evade  the  reproach  of  St.  Paul,  that  being  ourselves 
the  offspring  of  God,  we  ought  not  to  compare  Him  to 
the  workmanship  of  our  hands,  graven  with  art  and 
man’s  device  (Acts  xvii.  29). 

A  truly  spiritual  worship  is  intellectually  as  wTell  as 
morally  the  most  elevating  exercise  of  the  soul,  which 
it  leads  onward  and  upward,  making  of  all  that  it 
knows  and  thinks  a  vestibule,  beyond  which  lie  higher 
knowledge  and  deeper  feeling  as  yet  unattained. 

Why  is  Gothic  architecture  better  adapted  for 
religious  buildings  than  any  Grecian  or  Oriental  style  ? 
Because  its  long  aisles,  vaulted  roofs  and  pointed  arches, 
leading  the  vision  up  to  the  unseen,  tell  of  mystery,  and 
draw  the  mind  away  beyond  the  visible  and  concrete 
to  something  greater  which  it  hints ;  while  rounded 
arches  and  definite  proportions  shut  in  at  once  the 
vision  and  the  mind.  The  difference  is  the  same  as 
between  poetry  and  logic. 

And  so  it  is  with  worship.  We  fetter  and  cramp 
our  thoughts  of  deity  when  we  bind  them  to  even 
the  loftiest  conceptions  which  have  ever  been  shut 
up  in  marble  or  upon  canvas.  The  best  image  that 
ever  took  shape  is  inferior  to  the  poorest  spiritual 
conception  of  God,  in  this  respect  if  in  no  other — - 
that  it  has  no  expansiveness,  it  cannot  grow.  And  in 
connecting  our  prayers  with  it,  v/e  virtually  say,  *  This 
satisfies  my  conception  of  God.’ 

It  is  not  to  be  condemned  merely  as  inadequate, 
for  so  are  all  our  highest  thoughts  of  deity ;  nor  only 
because  average  humanity  (which  is  supposed  to  stand 


xx.  4-6.] 


7  HE  SECOND  COMMANDMENT. 


297 


most  in  need  of  the  help  and  suggestion  of  art)  will 
never  learn  the  fine  distinctions  by  which  subtle 
intellects  withhold  from  the  image  itself  the  worship 
which  it  evokes,  and  which  goes  out  in  its  direction. 
It  is  still  more  mischievous  because,  even  for  the 
trained  theologian,  it  is  the  petrifaction  of  what  is 
meant  to  develop  and  expand,  the  solidification  of 
the  inadequate,  the  accepting  of  what  is  human  as 
our  idea  of  the  divine. 

Nor  will  it  long  continue  to  be  merely  inadequate. 
Experience  proves  that  ideas,  like  air  and  water,  cannot 
be  confined  without  stagnating.  Idolatries  not  only  fail 
to  develop,  they  degenerate ;  and  systems,  however 
orthodox  they  may  appear  at  starting,  which  connect 
worship  with  palpable  imagery,  are  doomed  to  sink 
into  superstition. 

To  this  precept  there  is  added  a  startling  and  painful 
caution — “For  I  the  Lord  thy  God  am  a  jealous  God." 
That  a  man  should  be  jealous  is  no  passport  to  our 
friendship :  we  think  of  unreasonable  estrangements, 
exaggerated  demands,  implacable  and  cruel  resentments. 
It  would  not  enter  the  average  mind  to  doubt  that  one 
is  highly  praised  when  another  says  of  him,  1 1  never 
traced  in  his  words  or  actions  the  slightest  stain  of 
jealousy.’  And  yet  we  are  to  think  of  God  Himself 
as  the  jealous  God. 

Upon  reflection,  however,  we  must  admit  that  a  man 
is  not  condemned  as  jealous-minded  because  he  is 
capable  of  jealousy,  but  because  he  has  an  unjust  and 
unreasonable  tendency  towards  it.  It  is  a  narrowing 
and  suspicious  quality  when  it  operates  without  due 
cause,  a  vindictive  and  cruel  one  when  it  operates  in 
excessive  measure.  But  what  should  we  think  of  a 
parent  who  felt  no  jealousy  if  the  heart  of  his  child 


298 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


were  stolen  from  him  by  intriguing  servants  or  by 
frivolous  comrades  ?  Now,  God  has  called  Israel 
His  son,  even  His  firstborn.  The  truth  is  that  with 
us  jealousy  is  dangerous  and  frequently  perverted, 
because  we  are  bad  judges  of  the  measure  of  our  own 
rights,  especially  when  our  affections  are  involved. 
But  some  measure  of  jealousy  is  the  necessary  pain 
of  love  neglected,  love  wronged  or  slighted  by  those 
upon  whom  it  has  a  claim.  Jealousy  is  the  shadow 
thrown  where  the  sunshine  of  love  is  intercepted,  and 
it  is  strong  in  proportion  to  the  strength  of  the  light. 
It  operates  in  the  heart  exactly  like  the  sense  of  justice 
in  the  reason.  Justice  expects  a  recompense  where  it 
has  given  service,  and  jealousy  asks  for  love  where 
it  has  given  affection. 

And  therefore,  when  God  tells  us  that  He  is  jealous, 
He  implies  that  He  condescends  to  love  us,  to  look 
for  a  return,  to  desire  more  from  us  than  outward 
service.  We  cannot  be  jealous  concerning  things 
which  are  indifferent  to  us.  Even  the  jealousy  of  rival 
competitors  for  business  or  for  place  may  be  measured 
by  the  desire  of  each  for  that  which  the  other  would 
engross.  The  politician  is  not  jealous  of  the  million¬ 
aire,  nor  the  capitalist  of  the  prime  minister. 

Now,  if  God  is  jealous  when  the  enemies  of  our 
soul  would  steal  away  our  loyalty,  it  surely  follows 
that  we  shall  not  be  left  to  contend  with  those  enemies 
alone :  He  values  us ;  He  is  upon  our  side ;  He  will 
help  us  to  overcome  them. 

And  now  we  begin  to  see  why  this  attribute  is 
connected  with  the  second  commandment  and  not  the 
first.  The  apostate  who  betakes  himself  to  another 
god  is  almost  beyond  the  reach  of  this  tender  and 
intimate  emotion :  he  is  still  loved,  for  God  loves  ail 


ix.  4-6.] 


THE  SECOND  COMMANDMENT . 


299 


men ;  but  yet  perhaps  the  chord  is  unstrung  which 
trembles  responsive  to  this  plaintive  note. 

When  a  man  who  confesses  God  begins  to  weary 
of  spiritual  intercourse  with  the  Lord  of  spirits,  when 
he  can  no  longer  worship  One  whose  actual  presence 
is  realised  because  His  voice  is  heard  within,  when  the 
likeness  of  man  or  brute,  or  brightness  of  morning, 
or  marvel  of  life  or  its  reproductiveness,  contents  him 
as  a  representation  of  God  the  invisible,  then  his 
heart  is  beginning  to  go  after  the  creature,  to  content 
itself  with  artistic  loveliness  or  majesty,  to  let  go  the 
grasp  as  upon  a  living  hand,  by  which  alone  the  soul 
may  be  sustained  when  it  stumbles,  or  guided  when 
it  would  err. 

To  those  who  are  within  His  covenant — to  us, 
therefore,  as  to  His  ancient  Israel — He  says,  “  I  the 
Lord  thy  God  am  a  jealous  God/’  Because  I  am 
“  thy  Gcd.” 

The  assertion  of  a  Divine  jealousy  is  but  one  diffi¬ 
culty  of  this  remarkable  verse.  The  Lord  goes  on 
to  describe  Himself  as  "  visiting  the  iniquity  of  the 
fathers  upon  the  children  unto  the  third  and  fourth 
generation  of  them  that  hate  Me,  and  showing  mercy 
unto  thousands  of  them  that  love  Me  and  keep  My 
commandments.”  And  is  this  reasonable  ?  To  punish 
the  child,  to  be  avenged  upon  the  children's  children, 
for  sins  which  are  not  their  own  ?  We  know  how 
often  the  sceptic  has  made  gain  out  of  this  represen¬ 
tation — which  is  but  his  own  unauthorised  gloss,  since 
in  reality  God  has  said  nothing  about  punishing  the 
righteous  with  the  wicked.  It  is  not  true  that  all  sad 
and  disastrous  consequences  are  penal ;  many  are 
disciplinary,  and  even  to  the  people  of  God  some 
are  surgical,  cutting  away  what  would  lead  to  disease 


3oo 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


and  death.  Are  no  evil  consequences  probable,  if  men 
brought  up  amid  scenes  dishonouring  to  God  were 
treated  exactly  like  those  who  have  since  childhood 
felt  as  it  were  the  hand  of  a  Father  upon  their  head  ? 
For  themselves  it  is  best  and  kindest  that  so  deep  a 
loss  could  come  home  to  their  consciousness  in  pain. 

At  all  events,  the  assertion  so  early  made  in  Scrip¬ 
ture  is  confirmed  in  all  the  experience  of  the  race. 
Insanity,  idiocy,  scrofula,  consumption,  are  too  often, 
though  not  always,  the  hereditary  results  of  guilt.  Sins 
of  the  flesh  are  visited  upon  the  bodily  system.  Sins 
of  the  temper,  such  as  pride,  cynicism  and  frivolity, 
are  felt  in  the  mental  structure  of  the  race.  And 
the  sins  which  offend  directly  against  God,  do  they 
bring  no  results  with  them  ?  Ask  of  the  investigators 
of  the  new  science  of  heredity  and  transmitted  pecu¬ 
liarities,  whether  it  stops  short  of  the  highest  and 
holiest  parts  of  human  nature.  Or  consider  the 
ravages  which  victory  and  consequent  wealth  have 
made,  again  and  again,  in  the  character  of  whole 
nations. 

There  is  no  doctrine  impugned  in  Scripture,  which 
men  have  less  prospect  of  shaking  off,  even  if  they 
close  their  Bibles  for  ever,  than  this.  If  it  were  not 
there,  we  should  be  perplexed  at  a  want  of  conformity 
between  the  ways  of  God  in  nature  and  what  is 
asserted  of  Him  in  His  Book. 

But  it  is  either  slander  or  blindness  to  represent  this 
law,  viewed  in  its  entirety,  as  other  than  benevolent. 
The  transmission  of  the  result  of  evil  is  only  a  part 
of  the  vast  law  which  has  bound  men  together  in 
nations  and  families,  as  partners  and  members  with 
each  other.  It  is  clear  that  distinctive  advantages 
cannot  be  bestowed  upon  the  children  of  the  good,  as 


xx.  4_6-] 


THE  SECOND  COMMA  NIT  ME  NT. 


301 


such,  unless  the  same  advantages  be  withheld  from  the 
evil  race  beside  them.  If  the  prizes  of  a  university 
are  won  by  knowledge,  the  result  is  that  ignorance 
is  11  visited,”  in  the  withholding  of  them.  And  if,  in 
the  vaster  university  of  life,  health,  affluence,  good 
repute  and  a  clear  intellect  are  the  transmitted  results 
of  virtue,  then  disease,  poverty,  neglect  and  incompe¬ 
tence  become  the  dire  bequest  of  the  unrighteous. 

There  is  no  choice,  therefore,  except  either  to  carry 
out  this  law,  or  else  to  bid  every  man  in  the  world 
begin  life,  not  as  “the  heir  of  all  the  ages/'  but 
absolutely  destitute  of  all  that  has  been  acquired 
by  his  fellow-men. 

Sometimes  a  hint  is  given  us  of  what  this  would 
te.  There  is  brought  occasionally  into  civilised  com¬ 
munities,  from  the  depths  of  forests,  a  creature  without 
language  or  decency  or  intellect,  with  low  forehead 
and  brutal  appetites,  who  in  his  early  childhood  had 
wandered  away  and  been  lost, — brought  up,  men  say, 
by  the  strange  compassion  of  some  lower  creature, 
and  now  sunken  well-nigh  to  its  level.  To  this 
degradation  we  should  all  come,  if  it  were  not  for 
the  transmitted  inheritance  of  our  fathers.  And  so 
vast  is  the  upward  force  of  this  grand  law,  that  it 
is  steadily  though  slowly  upheaving  the  whole  mass ; 
and  the  lowest  of  to-day,  visited  for  ancestral  failings 
by  sinking  to  the  bottom,  is  higher  than  if  he  had 
been  left  absolutely  alone. 

This  over-weight  of  good  is  clearly  seen  by  compar¬ 
ing  the  clauses,  for  the  sins  of  the  fathers  are  visited 
upon  the  children  to  the  third  and  fourth  generation, 
but  mercy  is  shown  in  them  that  love  God  upon  a 
wholly  different  scale.  Even  "  unto  thousands  ”  would 
enormously  counterbalance  three  generations.  But 


302 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


the  Revised  Version,  rightly  suggests  “a  thousand 
generations  "  in  the  margin,  and  supports  it  by  one 
of  its  very  rare  references.  It  is  plainly  stated  in 
Deuteronomy  vii.  9,  that  He  “  keepeth  covenant  and 
mercy  with  them  that  love  Him  and  keep  His  com¬ 
mandments  unto  a  thousand  generations." 

Lastly,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  in  all  this  passage 
the  gospel  is  shining  through  the  law.  It  is  not  a 
question  of  just  dealing,  but  of  emotion.  God  is  not 
a  master  exacting  taskwork,  but  a  Father,  jealous 
if  we  refuse  our  hearts.  He  visits  sin  upon  the 
posterity  “  of  them  that  hate,"  not  only  of  them 
that  disobey  Him.  And  when  our  hearts  sink,  we 
who  are  responsible  for  generations  yet  to  be,  as  we 
reflect  upon  our  frailty,  our  ignorance  and  our  sins, 
upon  the  awful  consequences  which  may  result  from 
one  heedless  act — nay,  from  a  gesture  or  a  look — He 
reminds  us  that  He  does  not  requite  those  who  serve 
Him  only  with  a  measured  wage,  but  shows  “  mercy" 
upon  those  who  love  Him  unto  a  thousand  generations. 

THE  THIRD  COMMANDMENT. 

“Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God  in  vain.” — 
xx.  7. 

What  is  the  precise  force  of  this  prohibition  ? 
The  word  used  is  ambiguous  :  sometimes  it  must 
be  rendered  as  here,  as  in  the  verses  “  Vain  is  the 
help  of  man,"  and  “  Except  the  Lord  build  the 
house,  their  labour  is  but  vain  that  build  it "  (Psalm 
cviii.  12,  cxxvii.  1).  But  sometimes  it  clearly  means 
false,  as  in  the  texts  11  Thou  shalt  not  raise  a  false 
report,”  and  i(  swearing  fa  Isely  in  making  a  covenant" 
(Exod.  xxiii.  1  ;  Hos.  x.  4).  Yet  again,  it  hangs  mid¬ 
way  between  the  tw  o  ideas,  as  when  wre  read  of  “  lying 


XX.  7-] 


THE  THIRD  COMMANDMENT 


303 


vanities/'  and  again,  “  trusting  in  vanity  and  speaking 
lies  ”  (Psalm  xxxi.  6  ;  Isa.  lix.  4). 

In  favour  of  the  rendering  “  falsely  ”  it  is  urged 
that  our  Lord  quotes  it  as  “  said  to  them  of  old  time 
‘Thou  shalt  not  forswear  thyself'”  (Matt.  v.  33).  But 
it  is  by  no  means  clear  that  He  quotes  this  text :  the 
citation  is  closer  to  the  phraseology  of  Lev.  xix.  12, 
and  it  is  found  in  a  section  of  the  Sermon  which  does 
not  confine  its  citations  to  the  Decalogue  (cf.  ver.  38). 

The  Authorised  rendering  seems  the  more  natural 
when  we  remember  that  civic  duty  had  not  yet  come 
upon  the  stage.  When  we  have  learned  to  honour 
only  one  God,  and  not  to  degrade  nor  materialise 
our  conception  of  Him,  the  next  step  is  to  inculcate, 
not  yet  veracity  toward  men  when  God  has  been 
invoked,  but  reverence,  in  treating  the  sacred  name. 

We  have  already  seen  the  miserable  superstitions  by 
which  the  Jews  endeavoured  to  satisfy  the  letter  while 
outraging  the  spirit  of  this  precept.  In  modern  times 
some  have  conceived  that  all  invocation  of  the  Divine 
Name  is  unlawful,  although  St.  Paul  called  God  for 
a  witness  upon  his  soul,  and  the  strong  angel  shall 
yet  swear  “  by  Him  Who  liveth  for  ever  and  ever  ” 
(2  Cor.  i.  23 ;  Rev.  x.  6). 

As  it  is  not  a  temple  but  a  desert  which  no  foot 
ever  treads,  so  the  sacred  name  is  not  honoured  by 
being  unspoken,  but  by  being  spoken  aright. 

Swearing  is  indeed  forbidden,  where  it  has  actually 
disappeared,  namely,  in  the  mutual  intercourse  of 
Christian  people,  whose  affirmation  should  suffice  their 
brethren,  while  the  need  of  stronger  sanctions  “  cometh 
of  evil,”  even  of  the  consciousness  of  a  tendency  to 
untruthfulness,  which  requires  the  stronger  barrier  of 
an  oath.  But  our  Lord  Himself,  when  adjured  by  the 


3°4 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


living  God,  responded  to  the  solemn  authority  of  that 
adjuration,  although  His  death  was  the  result. 

The  name  of  God  is  not  taken  in  vain  when  men 
who  are  conscious  of  His  nearness,  and  act  writh 
habitual  reference  to  His  will,  mention  Him  more 
frequently  and  familiarly  than  formalists  approve.  It 
is  abused  when  the  insincere  and  hollow  professor 
joins  in  the  most  solemn  act  of  worship,  honours 
Him  writh  the  lips  while  the  heart  is  far  from  Him 
— nay,  when  one  strives  to  curb  Satan,  and  reclaim 
his  fellow-sinner,  by  the  use  of  good  and  holy  phrases, 
in  which  his  own  belief  is  merely  theoretical ;  and 
fares  like  the  sons  of  Sceva,  who  repeated  an  orthodox 
adjuration,  but  fled  away  overpowered  and  wounded. 
Or  if  the  truth  unworthily  spoken  assert  its  inherent 
power,  that  will  not  justify  the  hollowness  of  his  pro¬ 
fession,  and  in  vain  will  he  plead  at  last,  “Lord,  Lord, 
have  we  not  in  Thy  name  cast  out  devils,  and  in  Thy 
name  done  many  marvellous  acts  ?  ” 

The  only  safe  rule  is  to  be  sure  that  our  conception 
of  God  is  high  and  real  and  intimate ;  to  be  habitually 
humble  and  trustful  in  our  attitude  toward  Him  ;  and 
then  to  speak  sincerely  and  frankly,  as  then  we  shall 
not  fail  to  do.  The  wrords  which  rise  naturally  to 
the  lips  of  men  who  think  thus  cannot  fail  to  do  Him 
honour,  for  out  of  the  fulness  of  the  heart  the  mouth 
speaketh. 

And  the  prevalent  notion  that  God  should  be  men¬ 
tioned  seldom  and  with  bated  breath  is  rather  an 
evidence  of  men's  failure  habitually  to  think  of  Him 
aright,  than  of  filial  and  loving  reverence.  There  is  a 
large  and  powerful  school  of  religion  in  our  own  day, 
whose  disciples  talk  much  more  of  their  own  emotions 
and  their  own  souls  than  St.  Paul  did,  and  much  less 


XX.  8- 1 1.]  THE  FOURTH  COMMANDMENT. 


3°5 


about  God  and  Christ.  Some  day  the  proportions  wia 
be  restored.  In  the  great  Church  of  the  future  men 
will  not  morbidly  shrink  from  confessing  their  inner 
life,  but  neither  will  it  be  the  centre  of  their  contem¬ 
plation  and  their  discourse  :  they  will  be  filled  with  the 
fulness  of  God ;  out  of  the  abundance  of  their  hearts 
their  mouths  will  speak ;  His  name  shall  be  continually 
in  their  mouth,  and  yet  they  shall  not  take  the  name  of 
the  Lord  their  God  in  vain. 

THE  FOURTH  COMMANDMENT. 
xx.  8-1 1. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  commandment  to 
honour  the  Sabbath  day  occupies  a  unique  place  among 
the  ten.  It  is,  at  least  apparently,  a  formal  precept 
embedded  in  the  heart  of  a  moral  code,  and  good  men 
have  thought  very  differently  indeed  about  its  obliga¬ 
tion  upon  the  Christian  Church. 

The  great  Continental  reformers,  Lutheran  and 
Calvinistic  alike,  who  subscribed  the  Confession  of 
Augsburg,  there  affirmed  that  “  Scripture  hath  abo¬ 
lished  the  Sabbath  by  teaching  that  all  Mosaic  cere¬ 
monies  may  be  omitted  since  the  gospel  has  been 
revealed  ”  (ii.  vii.  28).  The  Scotch  reformers,  on  the 
other  hand,  declared  that  God  “  in  His  Word,  by  a 
positive  moral  and  perpetual  commandment,  binding  all 
men  in  all  ages,  hath  particularly  appointed  one  day 
in  seven  for  a  Sabbath,  to  be  kept  holy  unto  Him  ” 
( Westminster  Confess. ,  XXL  vii.).  They  are  even  so 
bold  as  to  declare  that  this  day  u  from  the  beginning 
of  the  world  to  the  resurrection  of  Christ  was  the  last 
day  of  the  week,  and  from  the  resurrection  of  Christ 
was  changed  into  the  first  day  of  the  week”;  but  this 

20 


3°6 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


proposition  would  be  as  hard  to  prove  as  the  contrary 
assertion,  still  maintained  by  some  obscure  religionists, 
that  the  change  of  day,  for  however  sufficient  and 
sublime  a  reason,  was  beyond  the  capacity  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  to  enact. 

Amid  these  conflicting  opinions  the  doctrinal  formu¬ 
laries  of  the  Church  of  England  are  characteristically 
guarded  and  prudent ;  but  her  worshippers  are  bidden 
to  seek  mercy  from  the  Lord  for  past  violations  of  this 
law,  and  an  inclination  of  heart  to  keep  it  in  the 
future;  and  when  the  Ten  have  been  recited,  they 
pray  that  “all  these  Thy  laws"  may  be  written  upon 
their  hearts.  There  is  no  doubt,  therefore,  about 
the  opinion  of  our  own  Reformers  concerning  the 
divine  obligation  of  the  commandment. 

In  examining  the  problem  thus  presented  to  us,  our 
chief  light  must  be  that  of  Scripture  itself.  Is  the 
Sabbath  what  the  Lutheran  confession  called  it,  a  mere 
“  Mosaic  ceremony,"  or  dees  it  rest  upon  sanctions 
which  began  earlier  and  lasted  longer  than  the  pre¬ 
cept  to  abstain  from  shell-fish,  or  to  sanctify  the  first¬ 
born  of  cattle  ? 

Does  its  presence  in  the  Decalogue  disfigure  that 
great  code,  as  the  intrusion  of  these  other  precepts 
would  do  ?  When  we  find  a  Gentile  church  reminded 
that  the  next  precept  to  this  ‘Ms  the  first  command¬ 
ment  with  promise”  (Eph.  vi.  2),  can  we  suppose  that 
the  tables  to  which  St.  Paul  appealed,  and  the  promise 
which  he  cited  at  full  length,  were  both  cancelled ; 
that  in  so  far  as  a  moral  element  existed  in  them,  that 
portion  of  course  survived  their  repeal,  but  the  code 
itself  was  gone?  If  so,  the  temporal  promise  went 
with  it,  and  its  quotation  by  St.  Paul  is  strange. 
Strange  also,  upon  this  supposition,  was  the  stress 


xx.S-ii.J  THE  FOURTH  COMMANDMENT. 


3°7 

which  he  habitually  laid  upon  the  law  as  a  convicting 
power,  and  as  being  only  repealed  in  the  letter  so  far 
as  it  was  fulfilled  by  the  spontaneous  instinct  of  love, 
which  was  the  fulfilling  of  the  law. 

The  position  of  the  commandment  among  a  number 
of  moral  and  universal  duties  cannot  but  weigh  heavily 
in  its  favour.  It  prompts  us  to  ask  whether  our  duty 
to  God  is  purely  negative,  to  be  fulfilled  by  a  policy 
of  non-intervention,  not  worshipping  idols,  nor  blas¬ 
pheming.  Something  more  was  already  intimated  in 
the  promise  of  mercy  to  them  u  that  love  Me.”  For 
love  is  chiefly  the  source  of  active  obedience :  while 
fear  is  satisfied  by  the  absence  of  provocation,  love 
wants  not  only  to  abstain  from  evil  but  to  do  good. 
And  how  may  it  satisfy  this  instinct  when  its  object  is 
the  eternal  God,  Who,  if  He  were  hungry,  would  not 
tell  us  ?  It  finds  the  necessary  outlet  in  worship,  in 
adoring  communion,  in  the  exclusion  for  awhile  of 
worldly  cares,  in  the  devotion  of  time  and  thought  to 
Him.  Now,  the  foundation  upon  which  all  the  institu¬ 
tions  of  religion  may  be  securely  built,  is  the  day  of 
rest.  Call  it  external,  formal,  unspiritual  if  you  will ; 
say  that  it  is  a  carnal  ordinance,  and  that  he  who 
keeps  it  in  spirit  is  free  from  the  obligation  of  the 
letter.  But  then,  what  about  the  eighth  command¬ 
ment?  Are  we  absolved  also  from  the  precept  u  Thou 
shalt  not  steal,”  because  it  too  is  concerned  with 
external  actions,  because  u  this  .  .  .  thou  shalt  not 
steal  .  .  .  and  if  there  be  any  other  commandment,  it 
is  briefly  comprehended  in  this  one  saving,  1  hou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself”  ?  Do  we  sa}g  the 
spirit  has  abolished  the  letter  :  love  is  the  rescinding 
of  the  law  ?  St.  Paul  said  the  very  opposite  :  love  is 
the  fulfilling  of  the  law,  not  its  destruction ;  and  thus 


308 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


he  re-echoed  the  words  of  Jesus,  M  I  am  not  come  to 
destroy  the  law,  but  to  fulfil.” 

All  men  know  that  the  formal  regulations  which 
defend  property  are  relaxed  as  the  ties  of  love  and 
mutual  understanding  are  made  strong ;  that  to  enter 
unannounced  is  not  a  trespass,  that  the  same  action 
which  will  be  prosecuted  as  a  theft  by  a  stranger,  and 
resented  as  a  liberty  by  an  acquaintance,  is  welcomed 
as  a  graceful  freedom,  almost  as  an  endearment,  by  a 
friend.  And  yet  the  commandment  and  the  rights  of 
property  hold  good :  they  are  not  compromised,  but 
glorified,  by  being  spiritualised.  As  it  is  between  man 
and  his  brother,  so  should  it  be  between  us  and  our 
Divine  Father.  We  have  learned  to  know  Him  very 
differently  from  those  who  shuddered  under  Sinai  : 
the  whole  law  is  not  now  written  upon  tables  of  stone, 
but  upon  fleshly  tables  of  the  heart.  But  among  the 
precepts  which  are  thus  etherialised  and  yet  estab¬ 
lished,  why  should  not  the  fourth  commandment 
retain  its  place  ?  Why  should  it  be  supposed  that  it 
must  vanish  from  the  Decalogue,  unless  the  gathering 
of  sticks  deserves  stoning  ?  The  institution,  and  the 
ceremonial  application  of  it  to  Jewish  life,  are  entirely 
different  things  ;  just  as  respect  for  property  is  a  fixed 
obligation,  while  the  laws  of  succession  vary. 

Bearing  this  distinction  in  mind,  we  come  to  the 
question,  Was  the  Sabbath  an  ordinance  born  of 
Mosaism,  or  not  ?  Grant  that  the  word  “  Remember,”  if 
it  stood  alone,  might  conceivably  express  the  emphasis 
of  a  new  precept,  and  not  the  recapitulation  of  an 
existing  one.  Grant  also  that  the  mention  in  Genesis 
of  the  Divine  rest  might  be  made  by  anticipation, 
to  be  read  with  an  eye  to  the  institution  which  would 
be  mentioned  later.  But  what  is  to  be  made  of  the 


XX.  8- 1 1.]  THE  FOURTH  COMMANDMENT. 


309 


fact  that  on  the  seventh  day  manna  was  withheld  from 
the  camp,  before  they  had  arrived  at  Horeb,  and  there¬ 
fore  before  the  commandment  had  been  written  by  the 
finger  of  God  upon  the  stone  ?  Was  this  also  done 
by  anticipation  ?  Upon  any  supposition,  it  aimed  at 
teaching  the  nation  that  the  obligation  of  the  day  was 
not  based  upon  the  positive  precept,  but  the  precept 
embodied  an  older  and  more  fundamental  obligation. 

How  is  the  Sabbath  spoken  of  in  those  prophecies 
which  set  least  value  upon  the  merely  ceremonial  law  ? 

Isaiah  speaks  of  mere  ritual  as  slightly  as  St.  Paul. 
To  fast  and  afflict  one’s  soul  is  nothing,  if  in  the  day 
of  fasting  one  smites  with  the  fist  and  oppresses  his 
labourers.  To  loose  the  bonds  of  wickedness,  to  free 
the  oppressed,  to  share  one’s  bread  with  the  hungry, 
this  is  the  fast  which  God  has  chosen,  and  for  him  who 
fasts  after  this  fashion  the  light  shall  break  forth  like 
sunrise,  and  his  bones  shall  be  strong,  and  he  himself 
like  an  unfailing  water-spring.  Now,  it  is  the  same 
chapter  which  thus  waives  aside  mere  ceremonial  in 
contempt,  which  lavishes  the  most  ample  promises  on 
him  who  turns  away  his  foot  from  the  Sabbath,  and 
calls  the  Sabbath  a  delight,  and  the  holy  of  the  Lord, 
honourable,  and  honours  it  (Isa.  lviii.  5-1 1,  13-14). 

There  is  no  such  promise  in  Jeremiah,  for  the  observ¬ 
ance  of  any  merely  ceremonial  law,  as  that  which  bids 
the  people  to  honour  the  Sabbath  day,  that  there  may 
enter  into  their  gates  kings  and  princes  riding  in 
chariots  and  upon  horses,  and  that  the  city  may  remain 
for  ever  (Jer.  xvii.  24,  25). 

And  Ezekiel  declares  that  in  the  day  when  God 
made  Himself  known  to  His  people  in  the  land  of 
Egypt,  He  gave  them  statutes  and  judgments  and  His 
sabbaths  (Ezek.  xx.  1 1,  12).  Now,  this  phrase  is  a  clear 


3io 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


allusion  to  the  word  of  God  in  Jeremiah,  that  li  I  spake 
not  unto  their  fathers  in  the  day  when  I  brought  them 
out  of  Egypt,  concerning  burnt-offerings  or  sacrifices, 
but  this  thing  I  commanded  them,  saying,  Hearken 
unto  My  voice,”  etc.  (Jer.  vii.  23).  And  it  sharply  con¬ 
trasts  the  sacredness  of  God’s  abiding  ordinances  with 
the  temporary  institutions  of  the  sanctuary.  But  it 
reckons  the  Sabbath  among  the  former. 

It  is  objected  that  our  Lord  Himself  treated  the 
Sabbath  lightly,  as  a  worn-out  ordinance.  But  He 
was  “a  minister  of  the  circumcision, ”  and  always  dis¬ 
cussed  the  lawfulness  of  His  Sabbath  miracles  as  a  Jew 
with  Jews.  Thus  He  argued  that  men,  admittedly  unde  r 
the  law,  baked  the  shewbread,  circumcised  children, 
and  even  rescued  cattle  from  jeopard}'  upon  the  seventh 
day.  He  appealed  to  the  example  of  David,  who  met 
a  sufficiently  urgent  necessity  by  eating  the  consecrated 
bread,  “which  was  not  lawful  for  him  to  eat”  (Matt, 
xii.  4). 

He  did  not  hint  that  the  law  of  the  sabbath  had  dis¬ 
appeared,  but  insisted  that  it  was  meant  to  serve  man 
and  not  to  oppress  him  :  that  **  the  sabbath  was  made 
for  man,  and  not  man  for  the  sabbath”  (Mark  ii.  27). 

Now,  there  is  not  in  the  life  of  Christ  an  assertion, 
so  broad  and  strong  as  that  the  Sabbath  was  made  for 
the  human  race,  which  can  be  narrowed  down  to  a  dis¬ 
cussion  of  any  merely  local  and  temporary  institution. 
He  Who  stood  highest,  and  saw  the  widest  horizons, 
declared  that  the  Sabbath  was  intended  for  humanity, 
and  not  for  a  section  or  a  sect  of  it.  Not  because  He 
was  the  King  of  the  Jews,  but  because  He  was  the  Son 
of  Man,  the  ripe  fruit  and  the  leader  of  the  world-wide 
race  which  it  was  given  to  bless,  therefore  He  was  also 
its  Lord. 


rx.  8-1 1.]  THE  FOURTH  COMMANDMENT.  311 

And  in  Him,  so  are  we.  Like  all  things  present 
and  things  to  come,  it  is  our  help,  we  are  not  its 
slaves. 

There  is  something  abject  in  the  notion  of  a 
Christian  freeman,  who  has  been  for  a  long  week 
imprisoned  in  some  gloomy  and  ill-ventilated  work¬ 
shop,  whose  lungs  would  be  purified,  and  therefore  his 
spirits  uplifted,  and  therefore  his  reason  and  his  affec¬ 
tions  invigorated,  and  therefore  his  worship  rendered 
more  fresh,  warm  and  reasonable,  by  the  breathing  of 
a  purer  air,  yet  whose  conception  of  a  day  of  rest  is  so 
slavish  that  he  dares  not  “rest”  from  the  pollution  of 
an  infected  atmosphere,  and  from  the  closeness  of  a 
London  court,  because  he  conceives  it  imperative  to 
“rest”  only  from  that  bodily  exercise,  to  enjoy  which 
would  be  to  him  the  most  real  and  the  most  delightful 
repose  of  all. 

But  there  are  other  things  more  abject  still;  and  one 
of  them  is  the  miserable  insincerity  of  the  affluent 
and  luxurious,  using  the  exceptional  case  of  him  whose 
week-days  are  thus  oppressed,  to  excuse  their  own 
wanton  neglect  of  religious  ordinances,  accepting  at  the 
hands  of  Christianity  the  sacred  holiday,  but  ignoring 
utterly  the  fact  that  the  Lord  sanctified  and  hallowed 
it,  that  it  is  to  be  called  the  holy  of  the  Lord,  and  to  be 
honoured,  and  that  we  are  free  from  the  letter  of  the 
precept  only  in  so  far  as  we  rise  to  the  spirit  of  it,  in 
loving  and  true  communion  with  the  Father  of  spirits. 

Another  utterance  oif  Jesus  throws  a  strong  light 
upon  the  nature  and  the  limits  of  our  obligation.  “  My 
Father  worketh  even  until  now,  and  I  work”  (John 
v.  17)  is  an  appeal  to  the  fact  that  in  the  long  sabbath 
of  God  His  world  is  not  deserted ;  creation  may 
be  suspended,  but  the  bounties  of  Providence  go  on  ; 


312 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


and  therefore  Christ  also  felt  that  His  day  of  rest  was 
not  one  of  torpor,  that  in  healing  the  impotent  man 
upon  the  Sabbath  He  was  but  following  the  example  of 
Him  by  whose  rest  the  day  was  sanctified.  All  works 
of  beneficent  love,  all  that  ministers  to  human  recovery 
from  anguish,  and  carries  out  the  Divine  purposes  of 
grace  for  body  or  soul,  rescue  from  danger,  healing  of 
disease,  reformation  of  guilt,  are  sanctioned  by  this 
defence  of  Christ. 

They  need  not  plead  that  the  commandment  is 
abrogated,  but  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  of  the  seed  of 
David,  found  nothing  in  such  liberties  inconsistent 
with  the  duties  of  a  devout  Hebrew. 

THE  FIFTH  COMMANDMENT. 

“  Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother  :  that  thy  da}Ts  may  be  long 
upon  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  givetli  thee.” — xx.  12. 

This  commandment  forms  a  kind  of  bridge  between 
the  first  table  and  the  second.  Obedience  to  parents 
is  not  merely  a  neighbourly  virtue  ;  we  do  not  honour 
them  simply  as  our  fellow-men :  they  are  the  vice¬ 
gerents  of  God  to  our  childhood ;  through  them  He 
supplies  our  necessities,  defends  our  feebleness,  and 
pours  in  light  and  wisdom  upon  our  ignorance ;  by 
them  our  earliest  knowledge  of  right  and  wrong  is 
imparted,  and  upon  the  sanction  of  their  voice  it  long 
depends. 

It  is  clear  that  parental  authority  cannot  be  under¬ 
mined,  nor  filial  disobedience  and  irreverence  gain 
ground,  without  shaking  the  foundations  of  our 
religious  life,  even  more  perhaps  than  of  our  social 
conduct. 

Accordingly  this  commandment  stands  before  the 


XX.  12.] 


THE  FIFTH  COMMANDMENT. 


3*3 


sixth,  not  because  murder  is  a  less  offence  against 
society,  but  because  it  is  more  emphatically  against 
our  neighbour,  and  less  directly  against  God. 

The  human  infant  is  dependent  and  helpless  for 
a  longer  period,  and  more  utterly,  than  the  young  of 
any  other  animal.  Its  growth,  which  is  to  reach  so 
much  higher,  is  slower,  and  it  is  feebler  during  the 
process.  And  the  reason  of  this  is  plain  to  every 
thoughtful  observer.  God  has  willed  that  the  race  of 
man  should  be  bound  together  in  the  closest  relation¬ 
ships,  both  spiritual  and  secular ;  and  family  affection 
prepares  the  heart  for  membership  alike  of  the  nation 
and  the  Church.  With  this  inner  circle  the  wider  ones 
are  concentric.  The  pathetic  dependence  of  the  child 
nourishes  equally  the  strong  love  which  protects,  and 
the  grateful  love  which  clings.  And  from  our  early 
knowledge  of  human  generosity,  human  care  and  good¬ 
ness,  there  is  born  the  capacity  for  belief  in  the  heart 
of  the  great  Father,  from  Whom  every  family  in 
heaven  and  earth  derived  its  Greek  name  of  Father¬ 
hood  (Eph.  iii.  15). 

Woe  to  the  father  whose  cruelty,  selfishness,  or  evil 
passions  make  it  hard  for  his  child  to  understand  the 
Archetype,  because  the  type  is  spoiled  !  or  whose 
tyranny  and  self-will  suggest  rather  the  stern  God  of 
reprobation,  or  of  servile,  slavish  subjection,  than  the 
tender  Father  of  freeborn  sons,  who  are  no  more  under 
tutors  and  governors,  but  are  called  unto  freedom. 

But  how  much  sorer  woe  to  the  son  who  dishonours 
his  earthly  parent,  and  in  so  doing  slays  within  himself 
the  very  principle  of  obedience  to  the  Father  of  spirits  ! 

No  earthly  tie  is  perfect,  and  therefore  no  earthly 
obedience  can  be  absolute.  Some  crisis  comes  in  every 
life  when  the  most  innocent  and  praiseworthy  affection 


3i4 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


becomes  a  snare — when  the  counsel  we  most  relied 
upon  wTould  fain  mislead  our  conscience — when  a  man, 
to  be  Christ’s  disciple,  must  “hate  father  and  mother,” 
as  Christ  Himself  heard  the  temptation  of  the  evil  one 
speaking  through  chosen  and  beloved  lips,  and  said  11  Get 
thee  behind  Me,  Satan.”  Even  then  we  shall  respect 
them,  and  pray  as  Christ  prayed  for  His  failing  apostle, 
and  when  the  storm  has  spent  itself  they  shall  resume 
their  due  place  in  the  loving  heart  of  their  Christian 
offspring. 

So  Jesus,  when  Mary  would  interrupt  His  teaching, 
said  “Who  is  My  mother?”  But  imminent  death  could 
not  prevent  Him  from  pitying  her  sorrow,  and  com¬ 
mitting  her  to  His  beloved  disciple  as  to  a  son. 

From  the  letter  of  this  commandment  streams  out  a 
loving  influence  to  sanctify  all  the  rest  of  our  relation¬ 
ships.  As  the  love  of  God  implies  that  of  our  brother 
also,  so  does  the  honour  of  parents  involve  the  recog¬ 
nition  of  all  our  domestic  ties. 

And  even  unassisted  nature  will  tend  to  make  long 
the  days  of  the  loving  and  obedient  child ;  for  life  and 
health  depend  far  less  upon  affluence  and  luxury  than 
upon  a  well-regulated  disposition,  a  loving  heart,  a 
temper  which  can  obey  without  chafing,  and  a 
conscience  which  respects  law.  All  these  are  being 
learned  in  disciplined  and  dutiful  households,  which  are 
therefore  the  nurseries  of  happy  and  righteous  children, 
and  so  of  long-lived  families  in  the  next  generation 
also.  Exceptions  there  must  be.  But  the  rule  is 
clear,  that  violent  and  curbless  lives  will  spend  them¬ 
selves  faster  than  the  lives  of  the  gentle,  the  loving, 
the  law-abiding  and  the  innocent. 


XX.  I3-] 


THE  SIXTH  COMMANDMENT. 


315 


THE  SIXTH  COMMANDMENT. 

“Thou  shalt  do  no  murder.” — xx.  13. 

We  have  now  clearly  passed  to  the  consideration  of 
man’s  duty  to  his  fellow-man,  as  a  part  of  his  duty 
to  his  Maker.  It  is  no  longer  as  holding  a  divinely 
appointed  relation  to  us,  but  simply  as  he  is  a  man, 
that  we  are  bidden  to  respect  his  person,  his  family, 
his  property,  and  his  fair  fame. 

And  the  influence  of  the  teaching  of  our  Lord  is  felt 
in  the  very  name  which  we  all  give  to  the  second  table 
of  the  law.  We  call  it  “  our  duty  to  our  neighbour.” 
But  we  do  not  mean  to  imply  that  there  lives  on  the 
surface  of  the  globe  one  whom  we  are  free  to  assault 
or  to  pillage.  The  obligation  is  universal,  and  the  name 
we  give  it  echoes  the  teaching  of  Him  who  said  that  no 
man  can  enter  the  sphere  of  our  possible  influence,  even 
as  a  wounded  creature  in  a  swoon  whom  we  may  help, 
but  he  should  thereupon  become  our  neighbour.  Or 
rather,  we  should  become  his  ;  for  while  the  question 
asked  of  Him  was  “Who  is  my  neighbour  ?  ”  (whom 
should  I  love?)  Jesus  reversed  the  problem  when 
He  asked  in  turn  not  To  whom  was  the  wounded  man 
a  neighbour  ?  but  Who  was  a  neighbour  unto  him  ? 
(who  loved  him  ?) 

Social  ethics,  then,  have  a  religious  sanction.  It  is 
the  constant  duty  and  effort  of  the  Church  of  God  to 
saturate  the  whole  life  of  man,  all  his  conduct  and 
his  thought,  with  a  sense  of  sacredness ;  and  as  the 
world  is  for  ever  desecrating  what  is  holy,  so  is  religion 
for  ever  consecrating  what  is  secular. 

In  these  latter  days  men  have  thought  it  a  proof 
of  grace  to  separate  religion  from  daily  life.  The 
Antinomian,  wrho  maintains  that  his  orthodox  beliefs 


3 16 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


or  feelings  absolve  hirn  from  the  obligations  of  morality, 
joins  hands  with  the  Italian  brigand  who  hopes  to 
be  forgiven  for  cutting  throats  because  he  subsidises 
a  priest.  The  enthusiast  who  insists  that  all  sins, 
past  and  future,  were  forgiven  him  when  he  believed, 
approaches  far  nearer  than  he  supposes  to  the  fanatic 
of  another  creed,  who  thinks  a  formal  confession  and 
an  external  absolution  sufficient  to  wash  away  sin. 
All  of  them  hold  the  grand  heresy  that  one  may 
escape  the  penalties  without  being  freed  from  the 
power  of  evil ;  that  a  life  may  be  saved  by  grace 
without  being  penetrated  by  religion,  and  that  it  is 
not  exactly  accurate  to  say  that  Jesus  saves  His  people 
from  their  sins. 

It  is  scarcely  wonderful,  when  some  men  thus  refuse 
to  morality  the  sanctions  of  religion,  that  others  pro¬ 
pose  to  teach  morality  how  she  may  go  without  them. 
In  spite  of  the  experience  of  ages,  which  proves  that 
human  passions  are  only  too  ready  to  defy  at  once 
the  penalties  of  both  worlds,  it  is  imagined  that  the 
microscope  and  the  scalpel  may  supersede  the  Gospel 
as  teachers  of  virtue  ;  that  the  self-interest  of  a  crea¬ 
ture  doomed  to  perish  in  a  few  years  may  prove  more 
effectual  to  restrain  than  eternal  hopes  and  fears ; 
and  that  a  scientific  prudence  may  supply  the  place  of 
holiness.  It  has  never  been  so  in  the  past.  Not  only 
Judaea,  but  Egypt,  Greece,  and  Rome,  w^ere  strong 
as  long  as  they  were  righteous,  and  righteous  as  long 
as  their  morality  was  bound  up  in  their  religion. 
When  they  ceased  to  worship  they  ceased  to  be  self- 
controlled,  nor  could  the  most  urgent  and  manifest 
self-interest,  nor  all  the  resources  of  lofty  philosophy, 
withhold  them  from  the  ruin  which  always  accompanies 
or  follows  vice. 


XX.  13.] 


THE  SIXTH  COMMANDMENT. 


317 


Is  it  certain  that  modern  science  will  fare  any  better  ? 
So  far  from  deepening  our  respect  for  human  nature 
and  for  law,  she  is  discovering  vile  origins  for  our 
most  sacred  institutions  and  our  deepest  instincts, 
and  whispering  strange  means  by  which  crime  may 
work  without  detection  and  vice  without  penalty. 
Never  was  there  a  time  when  educated  thought  was 
more  suggestive  of  contempt  for  one’s  self  and  for 
one’s  fellow-man,  and  of  a  prudent,  sturdy,  remorse¬ 
less  pursuit  of  self-interest,  which  may  be  very  far 
indeed  from  virtuous.  The  next  generation  will  eat 
the  fruit  of  this  teaching,  as  we  reap  what  our  fathers 
sowed.  The  theorist  may  be  as  pure  as  Epicurus.  But 
the  disciples  will  be  as  the  Epicureans. 

Is  there  anything  in  the  modern  conception  of  a 
man  which  bids  me  spare  him,  if  his  existence  dooms 
me  to  poverty  and  I  can  quietly  push  him  over  a 
precipice  ?  It  is  quite  conceivable  that  I  can  prove, 
and  very  likely  indeed  that  I  can  persuade  myself, 
that  the  shortening  of  the  life  of  one  hard  and  grasp¬ 
ing  man  may  brighten  the  lives  of  hundreds.  And 
my  passions  will  simply  laugh  at  the  attempt  to 
restrain  me  by  arguing  that  great  advantages  result 
from  the  respect  for  human  life  upon  the  whole. 
Appetites,  greeds,  resentments  do  not  regard  their 
objects  in  this  broad  and  colourless  way;  they  grant 
the  general  proposition,  but  add  that  every  rule  has 
its  exceptions.  Something  more  is  needed :  some¬ 
thing  which  can  never  be  obtained  except  from  a 
universal  law,  from  the  sanctity  of  all  human  lives 
as  bearing  eternal  issues  in  their  bosom,  and  from 
the  certainty  that  He  who  gave  the  mandate  will 
enforce  it. 

It  is  when  we  see  in  our  fellow-man  a  divine  creature 


3*8 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


of  the  Divine,  made  by  God  in  His  own  image,  marred 
and  defaced  by  sin,  but  not  beyond  recovery,  when  his 
actions  are  regarded  as  wrought  in  the  sight  of  a  Judge 
Whose  presence  supersedes  utterly  the  slightness,  heat 
and  inadequacy  of  our  judgment  and  our  vengeance, 
when  his  pure  affections  tell  us  of  the  love  of  God 
which  passeth  knowledge,  when  his  errors  affright  us 
as  dire  and  melancholy  apostacies  from  a  mighty 
calling,  and  when  his  death  is  solemn  as  the  unveiling 
of  unknown  and  unending  destinies,  then  it  is  that 
we  discern  the  sacredness  of  life,  and  the  awful  pre¬ 
sumption  of  the  deed  which  quenches  it.  It  is  when 
we  realise  that  he  is  our  brother,  holding  his  place  in 
the  universe  by  the  same  tenure  by  which  we  hold  our 
own,  and  dear  to  the  same  Father,  that  we  understand 
how  stern  is  the  duty  of  repressing  the  first  resentful 
movements  within  our  breast  which  would  even  wish 
to  crush  him,  because  they  are  a  rebellion  against  the 
Divine  ordinance  and  against  the  Divine  benevolence. 

Is  it  asked,  how  can  all  this  be  reconciled  with  the 
lawfulness  of  capital  punishment  ?  The  death  penalty 
is  frequent  in  the  Mosaic  code.  But  Scripture  regards 
the  judge  as  the  minister  and  agent  of  God.  The 
stern  monotheism  of  the  Old  Testament  “  said,  Ye  are 
Gods,"  to  those  who  thus  pronounced  the  behest  of 
Heaven ;  and  private  vengeance  becomes  only  more 
culpable  when  we  reflect  upon  the  high  sanction  and 
authority  by  which  alone  public  justice  presumes  to 
act. 

Now,  all  these  considerations  vanish  together,  when 
religion  ceases  to  consecrate  morality.  The  judgment 
of  law  differs  from  my  own  merely  as  I  like  it  better, 
and  as  I  am  a  party  (perhaps  unwillingly)  to  the 
general  consent  which  creates  it ;  he  whom  I  would 


xx.  14- J  THE  SEVENTH  COMMANDMENT 


319 


assail  is  doomed  in  any  case  to  speedy  and  complete 
extinction  ;  his  longer  life  is  possibly  burdensome  tc 
himself  and  to  society ;  and  there  exists  no  higher 
Being  to  resent  my  interference,  or  to  measure  out 
the  existence  which  I  think  too  protracted.  It  is  clear 
that  such  a  view  of  human  life  must  prove  fatal  to  its 
sacredness ;  and  that  its  results  would  make  them¬ 
selves  increasingly  felt,  as  the  awe  wore  away  which 
old  associations  now  inspire. 

THE  SEVENTH  COMMANDMENT. 

“Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery.” — xx.  14. 

This  commandment  follows  very  obviously  from  even 
the  rudest  principle  of  justice  to  our  neighbour.  It  is 
among  those  that  St.  Paul  enumerates  as  “  briefly 
comprehended  in  this  saying,  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbour  as  thyself.” 

And  therefore  nothing  need  here  be  said  about  the 
open  sin  by  which  one  man  wrongs  another.  Wild 
and  evil  theories  may  be  abroad,  new  schemes  of  social 
order  may  be  recklessly  invented  and  discussed  ;  yet, 
when  the  institution  of  the  permanent  family  is  assailed, 
every  thoughtful  man  knows  full  well  that  all  our 
interests  are  at  stake  in  its  defence,  and  the  nation 
could  no  more  survive  its  overthrow  than  the  Church. 

But  when  our  Lord  declared  that  to  excite  desire 
through  the  eyes  is  actually  this  sin,  already  ripe,  He 
appealed  to  some  deeper  and  more  spiritual  considera¬ 
tion  than  that  of  social  order.  What  He  pointed  to 
is  the  sacredness  of  the  human  body — so  holy  a  thing 
that  impurity,  and  even  the  silent  excitement  of  passion, 
is  a  wrong  done  to  our  nature,  and  a  dishonour  to  the 
temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 


320 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


Now,  this  is  a  subject  upon  which  it  is  all  the  more 
necessary  to  write,  because  it  is  hard  to  speak  about. 

What  is  the  human  body,  in  the  view  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  ?  It  is  the  one  bond,  as  far  as  we  know  in  all  the 
universe,  between  the  material  and  the  spiritual  worlds, 
one  of  which  slopes  thence  down  to  inert  molecules, 
and  the  other  upward  to  the  throne  of  God. 

Our  brain  is  the  engine-room  and  laboratory  whereby 
thought,  aspiration,  worship  express  themselves  and  be¬ 
come  potent,  and  even  communicate  themselves  to  others. 

But  it  is  a  solemn  truth  that  the  body  not  only 
interprets  passively,  but  also  influences  and  modifies  the 
higher  nature.  The  mind  is  helped  by  proper  diet  and 
exercise,  and  hindered  by  impure  air  and  by  excess  or 
lack  of  food.  The  influence  of  music  upon  the  soul  has 
been  observed  at  least  since  the  time  of  Saul.  And 
hereafter  the  Christian  body,  redeemed  from  the  con¬ 
tagion  of  the  fall,  and  promoted  to  a  spiritual  impressi¬ 
bility  and  receptiveness  which  it  has  never  yet  known, 
is  meant  to  share  in  the  heavenly  joys  of  the  immortal 
spirit  before  God.  This  is  the  meaning  of  the  assertion 
that  it  is  sown  a  natural  (—  soiilisJi)  body,  but  shall  be 
raised  a  spiritual  body.  In  the  meantime  it  must  learn 
its  true  function.  Whatever  stimulates  and  excites  the 
animal  at  the  cost  of  the  immortal  within,  will  in  the 
same  degree  cloud  and  obscure  the  perception  that  a 
man’s  life  consisteth  not  in  his  pleasures,  and  will  keep 
up  the  illusion  that  the  senses  are  the  true  ministers  of 
bliss.  The  soul  is  attacked  through  the  appetites  at  a 
point  far  short  of  their  physical  indulgence.  And  when 
lawless  wishes  are  deliberately  toyed  with,  it  is  clear 
that  lawless  acts  are  not  hated,  but  only  avoided 
through  fear  of  consequences.  The  reins  which  govern 
the  life  are  no  longer  in  the  hands  of  the  spirit,  nor  is 


XX.  1 5.] 


THE  EIGHTH  COMMANDMENT. 


321 


it  the  will  which  now  refuses  to  sin.  How,  then,  can 
the  soul  be  alert  and  pure  ?  It  is  drugged  and  stupi- 
fied  :  the  offices  of  religion  are  a  dull  form,  and  its 
truths  are  hollow  unrealities,  assented  to  but  unfelt, 
because  unholy  impulses  have  set  on  fire  the  course  of 
nature,  in  what  should  have  been  the  temple  of  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

Moreover,  the  Christian  life  is  not  one  of  mere 
submission  to  authority ;  its  true  law  is  that  of 
ceaseless  upward  aspiration.  And  since  the  union 
of  husband  and  wife  is  consecrated  to  be  the  truest 
and  deepest  and  most  far-reaching  of  all  types  of  the 
mystical  union  between  Christ  and  His  Church,  it 
demands  an  ever  closer  approach  to  that  perfect  ideal 
of  mutual  love  and  service. 

And  whatever  impairs  the  sacred,  mysterious,  all- 
pervading  unity  of  a  perfect  wedlock  is  either  the 
greatest  of  misfortunes  or  of  crimes. 

If  it  be  frailty  of  temper,  failure  of  common  sym¬ 
pathies,  an  irretrievable  error  recognised  too  late,  it 
is  a  calamity  which  may  yet  strengthen  the  character 
by  evoking  such  pity  and  helpfulness  as  Christ  the 
Bridegroom  showed  for  the  Church  when  lost.  But 
if  estrangement,  even  of  heart,  come  through  the 
secret  indulgence  of  lawless  reverie  and  desire,  it 
is  treason,  and  criminal  although  the  traitor  has  not 
struck  a  blow,  but  only  whispered  sedition  under  his 
breath  in  a  darkened  room. 

THE  EIGHTH  COMMANDMENT. 

**  Thou  shalt  not  steal.” — xx.  IS- 

There  is  no  commandment  against  which  human 
ingenuity  has  brought  more  evasions  to  bear  than  this. 

21 


322 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


Property  itself  is  theft,  says  the  communist.  u  It  is 
no  grave  sin,”  says  the  Roman  text-book,  “  to  steal  in 
moderation  ”  ;  and  this  is  defined  to  be,  “  from  a  pauper 
less  than  a  franc,  from  a  daily  labourer  less  than  two 
or  three,  from  a  person  in  comfortable  circumstances 
anything  under  four  or  five  francs,  or  from  a  very  rich 
man  ten  or  twelve  francs.  And  a  servant  whom  force 
or  necessity  compels  to  accept  an  unjust  payment,  may 
secretly  compensate  himself,  because  the  workman  is 
worthy  of  his  hire.”  *  A  moment’s  reflection  discovers 
this  to  be  the  most  naked  rationalism,  choosing  some 
of  the  commandments  of  God  for  honour,  and  some  for 
contempt  as  “not  very  grave,”  and  wholly  ignoring 
the  principle  that  whoever  attacks  the  code  at  any  one 
point  (<  is  guilty  of  all,”  because  he  has  despised  it  as 
a  code,  as  an  organic  system. 

Nothing  is  easier  than  to  confuse  one’s  conscience 
about  the  ethics  of  property.  For  the  arrangements 
of  various  nations  differ:  it  is  a  geographical  line 
which  defines  the  right  of  the  elder  son  against  his 
brothers,  of  sons  against  daughters,  and  of  children 
against  a  wife ;  and  the  demand  is  still  more  capricious 
which  the  state  asserts  against  them  all,  under  the 
name  of  succession  duty,  and  which  it  makes  upon 
other  property  in  the  form  of  a  multitude  of  imposts 
and  taxes.  Can  all  these  different  arrangements  be 
alike  binding  ?  Add  to  this  variability  the  immense 
national  revenues,  which  are  apparently  so  little  affected 
by  individual  contributions,  and  it  is  no  wonder  if 
men  fail  to  see  that  honesty  to  the  public  is  a  duty 
as  immutable  and  stern  as  any  other  duty  to  their 
neighbour.  Unfortunately  the  evil  spreads.  The 


*  Gury,  Compend.,  i.,  secs.  607,  673. 


xx.  15.] 


THE  EIGHTH  COMMANDMENT. 


323 


same  considerations  which  make  it  seem  pardonable 
to  rob  the  nation  apply  also  to  the  millionaire  ;  and 
they  tempt  many  a  poor  man  to  ask  whether  he  need 
respect  the  wealth  of  a  usurer,  or  may  not  adjust  the 
scales  of  Mine  and  Thine,  which  law  causes  to  hang 
unfairly. 

It  is  forgotten  that  a  nation  has  at  least  the  same 
authority  as  a  club  to  regulate  its  own  affairs,  to  fix 
the  relative  position  and  the  subscription  of  its  members. 
Common  honesty  teaches  me  that  I  must  conform  to 
these  rules  or  leave  the  club ;  and  this  duty  is  not  at 
all  affected  by  the  fact  that  other  associations  have 
different  rules.  In  three  such  societies  God  Himself 
has  placed  us  all — the  family,  the  Church,  and  the 
nation  ;  and  therefore  I  am  directly  responsible  to  God 
for  due  respect  to  their  laws.  It  is  not  true  that  the 
statute-book  is  inspired,  any  more  than  that  the  regu¬ 
lations  of  a  household  are  divinely  given.  Yet  a 
Divine  sanction,  such  as  rests  upon  the  parental  rule 
of  fallible  human  creatures,  hallows  also  national  law. 
I  may  advocate  a  change  in  laws  of  which  I  disapprove, 
but  I  am  bound  in  the  meantime  to  obey  the  conditions 
upon  which  I  receive  protection  from  foreign  foes  and 
domestic  fraud,  and  which  cannot  be  subjected  to  the 
judgment  of  every  individual,  except  at  the  cost  of  a 
dissolution  of  society,  and  a  state  of  anarchy  compared 
with  which  the  worst  of  laws  would  be  desirable. 

This  revolt  of  the  individual  is  especially  tempting 
when  selfishness  deems  itself  wronged,  as  by  the  laws 
of  property.  And  the  eighth  commandment  is  neces¬ 
sary  to  protect  society  not  merely  against  the  violence 
of  the  burglar  and  the  craft  of  the  impostor,  but  also 
against  the  deceitfulness  of  our  own  hearts,  asking 
What  harm  is  in  the  evasion  of  an  impost  ?  What 


324 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


right  has  a  successful  speculator  to  his  millions  ? 
Why  should  I  not  do  justice  to  myself  when  law  re¬ 
fuses  it  ? 

There  is  always  the  simple  answer,  Who  made  me  a 
judge  in  my  own  case  ? 

But  when  we  regard  the  matter  thus,  it  becomes 
clear  that  honesty  is  not  mere  abstinence  from  pillage. 
The  community  has  larger  claims  than  this  upon  us, 
and  is  wronged  if  we  fail  to  discharge  them. 

The  rich  man  robs  the  poor  if  he  does  not  play  his 
part  in  the  great  organisation  by  which  he  is  served  so 
so  well :  every  one  robs  the  community  who  takes  its 
benefits  and  returns  none ;  and  in  this  sense  the  bold 
saying  is  true,  that  every  man  lives  by  one  of  two 
methods — by  labour  or  by  theft. 

St.  Paul  does  not  exhort  men  to  refrain  from  theft 
merely  in  order  to  be  harmless,  but  to  do  good.  That 
is  the  alternative  contemplated  when  he  says,  11  Let  the 
thief  steal  no  more,  but  rather  let  him  labour,  working 
with  his  hands  the  thing  that  is  good,  that  he  may 
have  whereof  to  give  to  him  that  hath  need  ”  (Eph. 
iv.  28). 


THE  NINTH  COMMANDMENT. 

44  Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness  against  thy  neighbour." — xx.  16. 

St.  James  called  the  tongue  a  wrorld  of  iniquity. 
And  against  its  lawlessness,  which  inflames  the  whole 
course  of  nature,  each  table  of  the  law  contains  a 
warning.  For  it  is  equally  ready  to  profane  the  name 
of  God,  and  to  rob  our  neighbour  of  his  fair  fame. 

Jesus  Christ  regarded  verbal  professions  as  a  very 
poor  thing,  and  asked,  “  Why  call  ye  Me  Lord,  Lord, 
and  do  not  the  things  wThich  I  command  you  ?  He 


xx.  1 6.] 


THE  NINTH  COMMANDMENT. 


325 


aimed  a  parable  at  the  hollowness  of  merely  saying, 
u  I  go,  sir.”  But,  worthless  though  such  phrases  be, 
the  act  which  substitutes  professions  for  actual  service 
is  no  trifle ;  and  our  Lord  felt  the  importance  of 
words,  empty  or  sincere,  so  profoundly  as  to  stake 
upon  this  one  test  the  eternal  destinies  of  His  people  : 
“  By  thy  words  thou  shalt  be  justified,  and  by  thy 
words  thou  shalt  be  condemned.”  Now,  the  tongue 
is  thus  important  because  it  is  so  prompt  and  willing 
a  servant  of  the  mind  within.  We  scarcely  think  of 
it  as  a  servant  at  all :  our  words  do  not  seem  to  be 
more  than  il  expressions,”  manifestations  of  what  is 
within  us. 

But  a  thought,  once  expressed,  is  transformed  and 
energetic  as  a  bullet  when  the  charge  is  fired ;  it 
modifies  other  minds,  and  the  word  which  we  took  to 
be  far  less  potent  than  a  deed  becomes  the  mover  of 
the  fateful  deeds  of  many  men.  And  thus,  being  at 
once  powerful  and  unsuspected,  it  is  the  most  treacherous 
and  subtle  of  all  the  forces  which  we  wield. 

And  the  ninth  commandment  does  not  undertake 
to  bridle  it  by  merely  forbidding  us  in  a  court  of 
justice  to  wrong  our  fellow-man  by  perjury. 

We  transgress  it  whenever  we  conceive  a  strong 
suspicion  and  repeat  it  as  a  thing  we  know;  when 
we  allow  the  temptation  of  a  biting  epigram  to  betray 
us  into  an  unkind  expression  not  quite  warranted  by 
the  facts ;  when  we  vindicate  ourselves  against  a 
charge  by  throwing  blame  where  it  probably  but  not 
certainly  ought  to  lie ;  or  when  we  are  not  content  to 
vindicate  ourselves  without  bringing  a  countercharge 
which  it  would  perplex  us  to  be  asked  to  prove ; 
when  we  give  way  to  that  most  shallow  and  meanest 
of  all  attempts  at  cleverness  which  claims  credit  for 


326 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


penetration  because  it  can  discover  base  motives  for 
innocent  actions,  so  that  high-mindedness  becomes 
pride,  and  charity  withers  up  into  love  of  patronising, 
and  forbearance  shrivels  into  lack  of  spirit.  The 
pattern  and  ideal  of  such  cleverness  is  the  east  wind, 
which  makes  all  that  is  fair  and  sensitive  to  shut 
itself  up,  forbids  the  bud  to  expand  into  a  blossom, 
and  puts  back  the  coming  of  the  springtime  and  of 
the  singing  bird. 

There  are  very  gifted  persons  who  have  never  found 
out  that  a  kindly  and  winning  phrase  may  have  as 
much  literary  merit  as  a  stinging  one,  and  it  is  quite 
as  fine  a  thing  to  be  like  the  dew  on  Hermon  as  to 
shoot  out  arrows,  even  bitter  words. 

It  is  a  pity  that  our  harsh  judgments  always  speak 
more  loudly  and  confidently  than  our  kindly  ones, 
but  the  reason  is  plain :  angry  passion  prompts  the 
former,  and  its  voice  is  loud ;  while  the  calm  reflection 
which  tones  down  and  sweetens  the  judgment  softens 
also  the  expression  of  it. 

It  has  to  be  remembered,  also,  that  false  witness 
can  reach  to  nations,  organisations,  political  move¬ 
ments  as  well  as  individuals.  The  habit  of  putting 
the  worst  construction  upon  the  intentions  of  foreign 
powers  is  what  feeds  the  mutual  jealousies  that  ulti¬ 
mately  blaze  out  in  war.  The  habit  of  thinking  of 
rival  politicians  as  deliberately  false  and  treasonable 
is  what  lowers  the  standard  of  the  noblest  of  secular 
pursuits,  until  each  party,  not  to  be  undone,  protests 
too  much,  raises  its  voice  to  a  falsetto  to  scream  its 
rival  down,  and  relaxes  its  standard  of  righteousness 
lest  it  should  be  outdone  by  the  unscrupulousness  of 
its  rival. 

And  there  is  yet  another  neighbour,  against  whom 


xx.  1 6.] 


THE  NINTH  COMMANDMENT 


327 


false  witness  is  woefully  rife,  both  in  the  Church  and 
in  society.  That  neighbour  is  mankind  at  large. 
There  is  a  prevalent  theory  of  human  sinfulness  which 
unconsciously  scoffs  at  the  appeals  of  the  gospel, 
striving  indeed  to  influence  me  by  love,  gratitude, 
admiration  for  the  Perfect  One,  and  desire  to  be  like 
Him,  by  the  hope  of  holiness  and  the  shame  of  vile¬ 
ness,  but  telling  me  at  the  same  time  that  I  have  no 
sympathies  whatever  except  with  evil.  The  observa¬ 
tion  of  every  day  shows  that  man’s  nature  is  corrupt, 
but  it  also  shows  that  he  is  not  a  fiend — that  he  has 
fallen  indeed,  but  remembers  yet  in  what  image  he 
wras  made.  But  the  world  cannot  upbraid  the  Church 
for  these  exaggerations,  since  they  are  but  the  echo 
of  its  own. 


11 1  do  believe, 

Though  I  have  found  them  not,  that  there  may  be 
Words  which  are  things,  hopes  which  will  not  deceive, 
And  virtues  which  are  merciful,  nor  weave 
Snares  for  the  failing  ;  I  would  also  deem 
O’er  others’  griefs  that  some  sincerely  grieve ; 

That  two,  or  one,  are  almost  what  they  seem, 

That  goodness  is  no  name,  and  happiness  no  dream. 

Childe  Harold III.,  cxiv. 

Cynicism  is  false  witness  ;  and  if  it  does  not  greatly 
wrong  any  one  of  our  fellow-men,  it  injures  both 
society  and  the  cynic.  If  he  is  of  a  coarse  fibre,  it 
excuses  him  to  himself  in  becoming  the  hard  and 
unloving  creature  which  he  fancies  that  all  men  are. 
If  he  is  too  proud  or  too  self-respecting  to  yield  to 
this  temptation,  it  isolates  him,  it  chills  and  withers 
his  sympathies  for  people  quite  as  good  as  himself, 
whom  he  thinks  of  as  the  herd. 

As  for  the  more  flagrant  sins,  so  for  this,  the  remedy 


328 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


is  love.  Love  sympathises,  makes  allowance  for 
frailty,  discovers  the  germs  of  good,  hopeth  all  things, 
taketh  not  account  of  evil. 

THE  TENTH  COMMANDMENT, 

MThou  shalt  not  covet  .  .  .  anything  that  is  his.” — xx.  1 7. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  order  of  the  catalogue 
of  objects  of  desire  is  different  in  Exodus  and  in 
Deuteronomy.  In  the  latter  il  thy  neighbour’s  wife  ”  is 
first,  as  of  supreme  importance  ;  and  therefore  it  has 
been  thought  possible  to  convert  it  into  a  separate 
commandment. 

But  this  the  order  in  Exodus  forbids,  by  placing  the 
house  first,  and  then  the  various  living  possessions 
which  the  householder  gathers  around  him.  What  is 
thought  of  is  the  gradual  process  of  acquisition,  and 
the  right  of  him  who  wins  first  a  house,  then  a  wife, 
servants,  and  cattle,  to  be  secure  in  the  possession  of 
them  all.  Now,  between  foes,  we  saw  that  the  evil 
temper  is  what  leads  to  the  evil  deed,  and  the  man  who 
nurses  hatred  is  a  murderer  at  heart.  Just  so  the 
householder  is  not  rendered  safe,  and  certainly  not 
happy  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  rights,  by  the  seventh 
commandment  and  the  eighth,  unless  care  be  taken 
to  prevent  the  accumulation  of  those  forces  which 
will  some  day  break  through  them  both.  To  secure 
cities  against  explosion,  we  forbid  the  storage  of  gun¬ 
powder  and  dynamite,  and  not  only  the  firing  of 
magazines. 

But  the  moral  law  is  not  given  to  any  man  for  his 
neighbour’s  sake  chiefly.  It  is  for  me :  statutes 
whereby  I  myself  may  live.  And  as  the  Psalmist 
pondered  on  them,  they  expanded  strangely  for  his 


XX.  I7-] 


THE  TENTH  COMMANDMENT. 


329 


perception.  “  I  have  kept  Thy  testimonies/’  he  says ; 
but  presently  asks  to  be  quickened, — “So  shall  I  observe 
the  testimony  of  Thy  mouth,” — and  prays,  “  Give  me 
understanding,  that  I  may  know  Thy  testimonies.”  And 
at  the  last,  he  confesses  that  he  has  “gone  astray  like 
a  lost  sheep”  (Ps.  cxix.  22,  88,  125,  176).  Starting 
with  a  literal  innocence,  he  comes  to  feel  a  deep  inward 
need,  need  of  vitality  to  obey,  and  even  of  power  to 
understand  aright.  If  the  sacrifices  of  God  are  a 
broken  spirit,  it  follows  that  they  are  a  spirit,  and 
inward  loyalty  is  the  necessary  condition  upon  which 
external  obedience  can  be  accepted.  The  cheers  of  a 
traitor,  the  flattery  of  one  who  scorns,  the  ritual  of  a 
hypocrite,  these  are  quite  as  valuable,  as  indications  of 
what  is  within,  as  a  reluctant  relinquishment  to  my 
neighbour  of  what  is  his.  I  must  not  covet.  Plainly 
this  is  the  sharpest  and  most  searching  precept  of 
all ;  and  accordingly  St.  Paul  asserts  that  without  this 
he  would  not  have  suffered  the  deep  internal  discon¬ 
tent,  the  consciousness  of  something  wrong,  which 
tortured  him,  even  although  no  mortal  could  reproach 
him,  even  though,  touching  the  righteousness  of  the 
law,  he  was  blameless.  He  had  not  known  coveting, 
except  the  law  had  said  “  Thou  shalt  not  covet.” 

Here,  then,  we  perceive  with  the  utmost  clearness 
what  St.  Paul  so  clearly  discerned — the  true  meaning  of 
the  Law,  its  convicting  powrer,  its  design  to  work  not 
righteousness,  but  self-despair  as  the  prelude  of  self¬ 
surrender.  For  who  can,  by  resolving,  govern  his 
desires  ?  Who  can  abstain  not  only  from  the  usurping 
deed,  but  from  the  aggressive  emotion  ?  Who  will  not 
despair  when  he  learns  that  God  desireth  truth  in  the 
inward  parts?  But  this  despair  is  the  way  to  that 
Letter  hope  which  adds,  “  In  the  hidden  part  Thou  shalt 


330 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


make  me  to  know  wisdom.  Purge  me  with  hyssop, 
and  I  shall  be  clean.” 

And  as  a  strong  interest  or  affection  has  power  to 
destroy  in  the  soul  many  weaker  ones,  so  the  love 
of  God  and  our  neighbour  is  the  appointed  way  to 
overcome  the  desire  of  taking  from  our  neighbour 
what  God  has  given  to  him,  refusing  it  to  us. 


TIIE  LESSER  LAW. 


xx.  18 — xxiii.  33. 

With  the  close  of  the  Decalogue  and  its  universal 
obligations,  we  approach  a  brief  code  of  laws,  purely 
Hebrew,  but  of  the  deepest  moral  interest,  confessed  by 
hostile  criticism  to  bear  every  mark  of  a  remote  anti¬ 
quity,  and  distinctly  severed  from  what  precedes  and 
follows  by  a  marked  difference  in  the  circumstances. 

This  is  evidently  the  book  of  the  Covenant  to  which 
the  nation  gave  its  formal  assent  (xxiv.  7),  and  is 
therefore  the  germ  and  the  centre  of  the  system  after¬ 
wards  so  much  expanded. 

And  since  the  adhesion  of  the  people  was  required, 
and  the  final  covenant  was  ratified  as  soon  as  it  was 
given,  before  any  of  the  more  formal  details  were 
elaborated,  and  before  the  tabernacle  and  the  priesthood 
were  established,  it  may  fairly  claim  the  highest  and 
most  unique  position  among  the  component  parts  of  the 
Pentateuch,  excepting  only  the  Ten  Commandments. 

Before  examining  it  in  detail,  the  impressive  circum¬ 
stances  of  its  utterance  have  to  be  observed. 

It  is  written  that  when  the  law  was  given,  the  voice 
of  the  trumpet  waxed  louder  and  louder  still.  And  as 
the  multitude  became  aware  that  in  this  tempestuous 


xx.  l8-xxiii.  33.] 


THE  LESSER  LA  IV. 


331 


and  growing  crash  there  was  a  living  centre,  and 
a  voice  of  intelligible  words,  their  awe  became  in¬ 
sufferable  :  and  instead  of  needing  the  barriers  which 
excluded  them  from  the  mountain,  they  recoiled  from 
their  appointed  place,  trembling  and  standing  afar 
off.  “And  they  said  unto  Moses,  Speak  thou  with 
us  and  we  will  hear,  but  let  not  God  speak  with  us 
lest  we  die."  It  is  the  same  instinct  that  we  have 
already  so  often  recognised,  the  dread  of  holiness  in 
the  hearts  of  the  impure,  the  sense  of  unworthiness, 
which  makes  a  prophet  cry,  “  Woe  is  me,  for  I  am 
undone  !  ”  and  an  apostle,  “  Depart  from  me,  for  I  am 
a  sinful  man.” 

Now,  the  New  Testament  quotes  a  confession  of 
Moses  himself,  well-nigh  overwhelmed,  “  I  do  ex¬ 
ceedingly  fear  and  quake”  (Heb.  xii.  21).  And  yet 
we  read  that  he  “said  unto  the  people,  Fear  not,  for 
God  is  come  to  prove  you,  and  that  His  fear  may  be 
before  your  faces,  that  ye  sin  not  ”  (xx.  20).  Thus  we 
have  the  double  paradox, — that  he  exceedingly  feared, 
yet  bade  them  fear  not,  and  yet  again  declared  that  the 
very  object  of  God  was  that  they  might  fear  Him. 

Like  every  paradox,  which  is  not  a  mere  contra¬ 
diction,  this  is  instructive. 

There  is  an  abject  fear,  the  dread  of  cowards  and 
of  the  guilty,  which  masters  and  destroys  the  will — the 
fear  which  shrank  away  from  the  mount  and  cried  out 
to  Moses  for  relief.  Such  fear  has  torment,  and  none 
ought  to  admit  it  who  understands  that  God  wishes 
him  well  and  is  merciful. 

There  is  also  a  natural  agitation,  at  times  inevitable 
though  not  unconquerable,  and  often  strongest  in  the 
highest  natures  because  they  are  the  most  finely  strung. 
We  are  sometimes  taught  that  there  is  sin  in  that 


332 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


instinctive  recoil  from  death,  and  from  whatever  brings 
it  close,  which  indeed  is  implanted  by  God  to  prevent 
foolhardiness,  and  to  preserve  the  race.  Our  duty, 
however,  does  not  require  the  absence  of  sensitive 
nerves,  but  only  their  subjugation  and  control.  Mar¬ 
shal  Saxe  was  truly  brave  when  he*  looked  at  his  own 
trembling  frame,  as  the  cannon  opened  fire,  and  said, 
“Aha!  tremblest  thou?  thou  wouldest  tremble  much 
more  if  thou  knewest  whither  I  mean  to  carry  thee 
to-day.”  Despite  his  fever-shaken  nerves,  he  was 
perfectly  entitled  to  say  to  any  waverer,  “  Fear  not.” 

And  so  Moses,  while  he  himself  quaked,  was  entitled 
to  encourage  his  people,  because  he  could  encourage 
them,  because  he  saw  and  announced  the  kindly 
meaning  of  that  tremendous  scene,  because  he  dared 
presently  to  draw  near  unto  the  thick  darkness  where 
God  was. 

And  therefore  the  day  would  come  when,  with  his 
noble  heart  aflame  for  a  yet  more  splendid  vision, 
he  would  cry,  11  O  Lord,  I  beseech  Thee  show  me  Thy 
glory” — some  purer  and  clearer  irradiation,  which 
would  neither  baffle  the  moral  sense,  nor  conceal  itself 
in  cloud. 

Meanwhile,  there  was  a  fear  which  should  endure, 
and  which  God  desires  :  not  panic,  but  awe ;  not  the 
terror  which  stood  afar  off,  but  the  reverence  which 
dares  not  to  transgress.  “  Fear  not,  for  God  is  come  to 
prove  you  ”  (to  see  whether  the  nobler  emotion  or  the 
baser  will  survive),  “  and  that  His  fear  may  be  before 
your  faces”  (so  as  to  guide  you,  instead  of  pressing 
upon  you  to  crush),  11  that  ye  sin  not.” 

How  needful  was  the  lesson,  may  be  seen  by  what 
followed  when  they  were  taken  at  their  word,  and  the 
pressure  of  physical  dread  was  lifted  off  them.  “  They 


xx.  I S-xxiii.  33.] 


THE  LESSER  LAW. 


333 


soon  forgat  God  their  Saviour  .  .  .  they  made  a  calf  in 
Horeb,  and  worshipped  the  work  of  their  own  hands.” 
Perhaps  other  pressures  which  we  feel  and  lament 
to-day,  the  uncertainties  and  fears  of  modern  life,  are 
equally  required  to  prevent  us  from  forgetting  God. 

Of  the  nobler  fear,  which  is  a  safeguard  of  the  soul 
and  not  a  danger,  it  is  a  serious  question  whether 
enough  is  alive  among  us. 

Much  sensational  teaching,  many  popular  books  and 
hymns,  suggest  rather  an  irreverent  use  of  the  Holy 
Name,  which  is  profanation,  than  a  filial  approach  to  a 
Father  equally  revered  and  loved.  It  is  true  that  we 
are  bidden  to  come  with  boldness  to  the  throne  of 
Grace.  Yet  the  same  Epistle  teaches  us  again  that  our 
approach  is  even  more  solemn  and  awful  than  to  the 
Mount  which  might  be  touched,  and  the  profaning  of 
which  was  death  ;  and  it  exhorts  us  to  have  grace 
whereby  we  may  offer  service  well-pleasing  to  God 
with  reverence  and  awe,  “for  our  God  is  a  consuming 
fire”  (Heb.  iv.  16,  xii.  28).  That  is  the  very  last  grace 
which  some  Christians  ever  seem  to  seek. 

When  the  people  recoiled,  and  Moses,  trusting  in  God, 
was  brave  and  entered  the  cloud,  they  ceased  to  have 
direct  communion,  and  he  was  brought  nearer  to  Jehovah 
than  before. 

What  is  now  conveyed  to  Israel  through  him  is  an 
expansion  and  application  of  the  Decalogue,  and  in 
turn  it  becomes  the  nucleus  of  the  developed  law.  Its 
great  antiquity  is  admitted  b}'  the  severest  critics  ;  and 
it  is  a  wonderful  example  of  spirituality  and  searching 
depth,  and  also  of  such  germinal  and  fruitful  princi¬ 
ples  as  cannot  rest  in  themselves,  literally  applied,  but 
must  lead  the  obedient  student  on  to  still  better  things. 

It  is  not  the  function  of  law  to  inspire  men  to  obey 


334 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


it ;  this  is  precisely  what  the  law  could  not  do,  being 
weak  through  the  flesh.  But  it  could  arrest  the 
attention  and  educate  the  conscience.  Simple  though 
it  was  in  the  letter,  David  could  meditate  upon  it  day 
and  night.  In  the  New  Testament  we  know  of  two 
persons  who  had  scrupulously  respected  its  precepts, 
but  they  both,  far  from  being  satisfied,  were  filled  with 
a  divine  discontent.  One  had  kept  all  these  things 
from  his  youth,  yet  felt  the  need  of  doing  some  good 
thing,  and  anxiously  demanded  what  it  was  that  he 
lacked  yet.  The  other,  as  touching  the  righteousness 
of  the  law,  was  blameless,  yet  when  the  law  entered, 
sin  revived  and  slew  him.  For  the  law  was  spiritual, 
and  reached  beyond  itself,  while  he  was  carnal,  and 
thwarted  by  the  flesh,  sold  under  sin,  even  while 
externally  beyond  reproach. 

This  subtle  characteristic  of  all  noble  law  will  be 
very  apparent  in  studying  the  kernel  of  the  law,  the 
code  within  the  code,  which  now  lies  before  us. 

Men  sometimes  judge  the  Hebrew  legislation  harshly, 
thinking  that  they  are  testing  it,  as  a  Divine  institution, 
by  the  light  of  this  century.  They  are  really  doing 
nothing  of  the  sort.  If  there  are  two  principles  of 
legislation  dearer  than  all  others  to  modern  Englishmen, 
they  are  the  two  which  these  flippant  judgments  most 
ignore,  and  by  which  they  are  most  perfectly  refuted. 

One  is  that  institutions  educate  communities.  It  is 
not  too  much  to  say  that  we  have  staked  the  future 
of  our  nation,  and  therefore  the  hopes  of  humanity, 
upon  our  conviction  that  men  can  be  elevated  by 
ennobling  institutions, — that  the  franchise,  for  example, 
is  an  education  as  well  as  a  trust. 

'I  he  other,  which  seems  to  contradict  the  first,  and 
coos  actually  modify  it,  is  that  legislation  must  not 


xx.  i8-xxiii.  33.] 


THE  LESSER  LAW. 


335 


move  too  far  in  advance  of  public  opinion.  Laws  may 
be  highly  desirable  in  the  abstract,  for  which  com¬ 
munities  are  not  yet  ripe.  A  constitution  like  our  own 
would  be  simply  ruinous  in  Hindostan.  Many  good 
friends  of  temperance  are  the  reluctant  opponents  of 
legislation  which  they  desire  in  theory  but  which  would 
only  be  trampled  upon  in  practice,  because  public 
opinion  would  rebel  against  the  law.  Legislation  is 
indeed  educational,  but  the  danger  is  that  the  practical 
outcome  of  such  legislation  would  be  disobedience  and 
anarchy. 

Now,  these  principles  are  the  ample  justification  of 
all  that  startles  us  in  the  Pentateuch. 

Slavery  and  polygamy,  for  instance,  are  not  abolished. 
To  forbid  them  utterly  would  have  substituted  far  worse 
evils,  as  the  Jews  then  were.  But  laws  were  intro¬ 
duced  which  vastly  ameliorated  the  condition  of  the 
slave,  and  elevated  the  status  of  woman — laws  which 
were  far  in  advance  of  the  best  Gentile  culture,  and 
which  so  educated  and  softened  the  Jewish  character, 
that  men  soon  came  to  feel  the  letter  of  these  very  laws 
too  harsh. 

That  is  a  nobler  vindication  of  the  Mosaic  legislation 
than  if  this  century  agreed  with  every  letter  of  it.  To 
be  vital  and  progressive  is  a  better  thing  than  to  be 
correct.  The  law  waged  a  far  more  effectual  war  upon 
certain  evils  than  by  formal  prohibition,  sound  in  theory 
but  premature  by  centuries.  Other  good  things  besides 
liberty  are  not  for  the  nursery  or  the  school.  And 
“  we  also,  when  we  were  children,  were  held  in  bond¬ 
age  ”  (Gal.  iv.  3). 

It  is  pretty  well  agreed  that  this  code  may  be  divided 
into  five  parts.  To  the  end  of  the  twentieth  chapter 
it  deals  directly  with  the  worship  of  God.  Then  follow 


33^ 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


thirty-two  verses  treating  of  the  personal  rights  of  mar 
as  distinguished  from  his  rights  of  property.  From 
the  thirty-third  verse  of  the  twenty-first  chapter  to 
the  fifteenth  verse  of  the  twenty-second,  the  rights 
of  property  are  protected.  Thence  to  the  nineteenth 
verse  of  the  twenty-third  chapter  is  a  miscellaneous 
group  of  laws,  chiefly  moral,  but  deeply  connected 
with  the  civil  organisation  of  the  state.  And  thence 
to  the  end  of  the  chapter  is  an  earnest  exhortation 
from  God,  introduced  by  a  clearer  statement  than 
before  of  the  manner  in  which  He  means  to  lead 
them,  even  by  that  mysterious  Angel  in  Whom  **  is 
My  Name.” 


Part  I. — The  Law  of  Worship. 

xx.  22-26. 

It  is  no  vain  repetition  that  this  code  begins  by 
reasserting  the  supremacy  of  the  one  God.  That 
principle  underlies  all  the  law,  and  must  be  carried 
into  every  part  of  it.  And  it  is  now  enforced  by  a 
new  sanction, — “Ye  yourselves  have  seen  that  I  have 
talked  with  you  from  heaven  :  ye  shall  not  make 
other  gods  with  Me ;  gods  of  silver  or  gods  of  gold  ye 
shall  not  make  unto  you  (vers.  22,  23).  The  costliest 
material  of  this  low  world  should  be  utterly  contemned 
in  rivalry  with  that  spiritual  Presence  revealing  Himself 
out  of  a  wholly  different  sphere ;  and  in  so  far  as  they 
remembered  Him,  and  the  Voice  which  had  thrilled 
their  nature  to  its  core,  in  so  far  would  they  be  free 
from  the  desire  for  any  carnal  and  materialised  divinity 
to  go  before  them. 

Impressed  with  such  views  of  God,  their  service  of 
Him  would  be  moulded  accordingly  (24,  25).  It  is 


XX.  22-26.] 


THE  LESSER  LAW. 


337 


true  that  nothing  could  be  too  splendid  for  His  sanv, 
tuary,  and  Bezaleel  was  presently  to  be  inspired,  that 
the  work  of  the  tabernacle  might  be  worthy  of  its 
destination.  Spirituality  is  not  meanness,  nor  is  art 
without  a  consecration  of  its  own.  But  it  must  not 
intrude  too  closely  upon  the  solemn  act  wherein  the 
soul  seeks  the  pardon  of  the  Creator.  The  altar 
should  not  be  a  proud  structure,  richly  sculptured  and 
adorned,  and  offering  in  itself,  if  not  an  object  of 
adoration,  yet  a  satisfying  centre  of  attention  for  the 
worshipper.  It  should  be  simply  a  heap  of  sods. 

And  if  they  must  needs  go  further,  and  erect  a  more 
durable  pile,  it  must  still  be  of  materials  crude, 
inartistic,  such  as  the  earth  itself  affords,  of  unhewn 
stone.  A  golden  casket  is  fit  to  convey  the  freedom 
of  some  historic  city  to  a  prince,  but  the  noblest 
offering  of  man  to  God  is  too  humble  to  deserve  an 

ostentatious  altar.  LU/Uinthjuo  1  Pijrajifu 

^  “  If  thou  lift  up  a  tool  upon  it  thou  hast  polluted 
it :  ”  it  has  lost  its  virginal  simplicity ;  it  no  longer 


suits  a  spontaneous  offering  of  the  heart,  it  has  become 
artificial,  sophisticated,  self-conscious,  polluted.  ^ 

It  is  vehemently  urged  that  these  verses  sanction  a 
plurality  of  altars  (so  that  one  might  be  of  earth  and 
another  of  stone),  and  recognise  the  lawfulness  of 
worship  in  other  places  than  at  a  central  appointed 
shrine.  And  it  is  concluded  that  early  Judaism  knew 
nothing  of  the  exclusive  sanctity  of  the  tabernacle  and 
the  temple. 

This  argument  forgets  the  circumstances.  The 
Jews  had  been  led  to  Horeb,  the  mount  of  God.  They 
were  soon  to  wander  away  thence  through  the  wilder¬ 
ness.  Altars  had  to  be  set  up  in  many  places,  and 
might  be  of  different  materials.  It  was  an  important 


22 


(  i  j(  hn 


33» 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


announcement  tnat  in  every  place  where  God  would 
record  His  name  He  would  come  unto  them  and  bless 
them.  But  certainly  the  inference  leans  rather  toward 
than  against  the  belief  that  it  was  for  Him  to  select 
every  place  which  should  be  sacred. 

The  last  direction  given  with  regard  to  worship  is 
a  homely  one.  It  commands  that  the  altar  must  not 
be  approached  with  steps,  lest  the  clothes  of  the  priest 
should  be  disturbed  and  his  limbs  uncovered.  Already 
we  feel  that  we  have  to  reckon  with  the  temper  as 
well  as  the  letter  of  the  precept.  It  is  divinely  unlike 
the  frantic  indecencies  of  many  pagan  rituals.  It 
protests  against  all  infractions  of  propriety,  even  the 
slightest,  such  as  even  now  discredit  many  a  zealous 
movement,  and  bear  fruit  in  many  a  scandal.  It 
rebukes  all  misdemeanour,  all  forgetfulness  in  look 
and  gesture  of  the  Sacred  Presence,  in  every  wor¬ 
shipper,  at  every  shrine. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


THE  LESSER  LA  W  ( continued )• 

Part  II. — Rights  of  the  Person. 

xxi.  I-32. 

The  first  words  of  God  from  Sinai  had  declared 
that  He  was  Jehovah  Who  brought  them  out  of 
slavery.  And  in  this  remarkable  code,  the  first  person 
whose  rights  are  dealt  with  is  the  slave.  We  saw 
that  a  denunciation  of  all  slavery  would  have  been 
premature,  and  therefore  unwise ;  but  assuredly  the 
germs  of  emancipation  were  already  planted  by  this 
giving  of  the  foremost  place  to  the  rights  of  the  least 
of  all  and  the  servant  of  all. 

As  regards  the  Hebrew  slave,  the  effect  was  to 
reduce  his  utmost  bondage  to  a  comparatively  mild 
apprenticeship.  At  the  worst  he  should  go  free  in 
the  seventh  year;  and  if  the  }^ear  of  jubilee  intervened, 
it  brought  a  still  speedier  emancipation.  If  his  debt 
or  misconduct  had  involved  a  family  in  his  disgrace, 
they  should  also  share  his  emancipation,  but  if  while 
in  bondage  his  master  had  provided  for  his  marriage 
w7ith  a  slave,  then  his  family  must  await  their  own 
appointed  period  of  release.  It  followed  that  if  he 
had  contracted  a  degrading  alliance  with  a  foreign 
slave,  his  freedom  would  inflict  upon  him  the  pang 


340 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


of  final  severance  from  his  dear  ones.  He  might, 
indeed,  escape  this  pain,  but  only  by  a  deliberate  and 
humiliating  act,  by  formally  renouncing  before  the 
judges  his  liberty,  the  birthright  of  his  nation  (“  they 
are  My  servants,  whom  I  brought  forth  out  of  Egypt, 
they  shall  not  be  sold  as  bondservants  ” — Lev.  xxv.  42), 
and  submitting  to  have  his  ear  pierced,  at  the  door¬ 
post  of  his  master’s  house,  as  if,  like  that,  his  body 
were  become  his  master’s  property.  It  is  uncertain, 
after  this  decisive  step,  whether  even  the  year  of 
jubilee  brought  him  release  ;  and  the  contrary  seems 
to  be  implied  in  his  always  bearing  about  in  his 
body  an  indelible  and  degrading  mark.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  St.  Paul  rejoiced  to  think  that  his 
choice  of  Christ  was  practically  beyond  recall,  for 
the  scars  on  his  body  marked  the  tenacity  of  his 
decision  (Gal.  vi.  17).  He  wrote  this  to  Gentiles, 
and  used  the  Gentile  phrase  for  the  branding  of  a 
slave.  But  beyond  question  this  Hebrew  of  Hebrews 
lemembered,  as  he  wrote,  that  one  of  his  race  could 
incur  lifelong  subjection  only  by  a  voluntary  wound, 
endured  because  he  loved  his  master,  such  as  he  had 
received  for  love  of  Jesus. 

When  the  law  came  to  deal  with  assaults  it  was 
impossible  to  place  the  slave  upon  quite  the  same 
level  as  the  freeman.  But  Moses  excelled  the  legis¬ 
lators  of  Greece  and  Rome,  by  making  an  assault  or 
chastisement  which  killed  him  upon  the  spot  as  worthy 
of  death  as  if  a  freeman  had  been  slain.  It  was 
only  the  victim  who  lingered  that  died  comparatively 
unavenged  (20,  21).  After  all,  chastisement  was  a 
natural  right  of  the  master,  because  he  owned  him 
( “  he  is  his  money  ”)  ;  and  it  would  be  hard  to  treat  an 
excess  of  what  was  permissible,  inflicted  perhaps  under 


xxi.  I-32.] 


THE  LESSER  LA  IV. 


34* 


provocation  which  made  some  punishment  necessar}', 
on  the  same  lines  with  an  assault  that  was  entirely 
lawless.  But  there  was  this  grave  restraint  upon  bad 
temper, — that  the  loss  of  any  member,  and  even  of  the 
tooth  of  a  slave,  involved  his  instant  manumission. 
And  this  carried  with  it  the  principle  of  moral 
responsibility  for  every  hurt  (26,  27). 

It  was  not  quite  plain  that  these  enactments 
extended  to  the  Gentile  slave.  But  in  accordance 
with  the  assertion  that  the  whole  spirit  of  the  statutes 
was  elevating,  the  conclusion  arrived  at  by  the  later 
authorities  wras  the  generous  one. 

When  it  is  added  that  man-stealing  (upon  which 
all  our  modern  systems  of  slavery  were  founded)  was 
a  capital  offence,  without  power  of  commutation  for 
a  fine  (xxi.  16),  it  becomes  clear  that  the  advocates 
of  slavery  appeal  to  Moses  against  the  outraged  con¬ 
science  of  humanity  without  any  shadow  of  warrant 
either  from  the  letter  or  the  spirit  of  the  code. 

There  remains  to  be  considered  a  remarkable  and 
melancholy  sub-section  of  the  law  of  slavery. 

In  every  age  degraded  beings  have  made  gain  of 
the  attractions  of  their  daughters.  With  them,  the 
law  attempted  nothing  of  moral  influence.  But  it 
protected  their  children,  and  brought  pressure  to  bear 
upon  the  tempter,  by  a  series  of  firm  provisions,  as 
bold  as  the  age  could  bear,  and  much  in  advance  of 
the  conscience  of  too  many  among  ourselves  to-day. 

The  seduction  of  any  unbetrothed  maiden  involved 
marriage,  or  the  payment  of  a  dowry.  And  thus  one 
door  to  evil  was  firmly  closed  (xxii.  16). 

But  when  a  man  purchased  a  female  slave,  with 
the  intention  of  making  her  an  inferior  wife,  whether 
for  himself  or  for  his  son  (such  only  are  the  purchases 


342 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


here  dealt  with,  and  an  ordinary  female  slave  was  treated 
upon  the  same  principles  as  a  man),  she  was  far  from 
being  the  sport  of  his  caprice.  If  indeed  he  repented 
at  once,  he  might  send  her  back,  or  transfer  her  to 
another  of  her  countrymen  upon  the  same  terms,  but 
when  once  they  were  united  she  was  protected  against 
his  fickleness.  He  might  not  treat  her  as  a  servant 
or  domestic,  but  must,  even  if  he  married  another  and 
probably  a  chief  wife,  continue  to  her  all  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  a  wife.  Nor  was  her  position  a 
temporary  one,  to  her  damage,  as  that  of  an  ordinary 
slave  was,  to  his  benefit. 

And  if  there  was  any  failure  to  observe  these 
honourable  terms,  she  could  return  with  unblemished 
reputation  to  her  father’s  home,  without  forfeiture  of 
the  money  which  had  been  paid  for  her  (xxi.  7-11). 

Does  any  one  seriously  believe  that  a  system  like 
the  African  slave  trade  could  have  existed  in  such 
a  humane  and  genial  atmosphere  as  these  enactments 
breathed  ?  Does  any  one  who  knows  the  plague  spot 
and  disgrace  of  our  modern  civilisation  suppose  for 
a  moment  that  more  could  have  been  attempted,  in 
that  age,  for  the  great  cause  of  purity  ?  Would  to 
God  that  the  spirit  of  these  enactments  wTere  even 
now  respected  !  They  would  make  of  us,  as  they  have 
made  of  the  Hebrew  nation  unto  this  day,  models  of 
domestic  tenderness,  and  of  the  blessings  in  health 
and  physical  vigour  which  an  untainted  life  bestows 
upon  communities. 

By  such  checks  upon  the  degradation  of  slavery,  the 
Jew  began  to  learn  the  great  lesson  of  the  sanctity  of 
manhood.  The  next  step  was  to  teach  him  the  value 
of  life,  not  only  in  the  avenging  of  murder,  but  also  in 
the  mitigation  of  such  revenge.  The  blood-feud  was  too 


xxi.  i  32.] 


THE  LESSER  LAW. 


343 


old,  too  natural  a  practice  to  be  suppressed  at  once ; 
but  it  was  so  controlled  and  regulated  as  to  become 
little  more  than  a  part  of  the  machinery  of  justice. 

A  premeditated  murder  was  inexpiable,  not  to  be 
ransomed  ;  the  murderer  must  surely  die.  Even  if  he 
fled  to  the  altar  of  God,  intending  to  escape  thence  to 
a  city  of  refuge  when  the  avenger  ceased  to  watch,  he 
should  be  torn  from  that  holy  place :  to  shelter  him 
would  not  be  an  honour,  but  a  desecration  to  the  shrine 
(xxi.  12,  14).  According  to  this  provision  Joab  and 
Adonijah  suffered.  For  the  slayer  by  accident  or  in 
hasty  quarrel,  “a  place  whither  he  shall  flee"  would  be 
provided,  and  the  vague  phrase  indicates  the  antiquity  of 
the  edict  (ver.  13).  This  arrangement  at  once  respected 
his  life,  which  did  not  merit  forfeiture,  and  provided  a 
penalty  for  his  rashness  or  his  passion. 

It  is  because  the  question  in  hand  is  the  sanctity  of 
man,  that  the  capital  punishment  of  a  son  who  strikes 
or  curses  a  parent,  the  vicegerent  of  God,  and  of  a 
kidnapper,  is  interposed  between  these  provisions  and 
minor  offences  against  the  person  (15-17). 

Of  these  latter,  the  first  is  when  lingering  illness 
results  from  a  blow  received  in  a  quarrel.  This  was 
not  a  case  for  the  stern  rule,  eye  for  eye  and  tooth  for 
tooth, — for  how  could  that  rule  be  applied  to  it  ? — but 
the  violent  man  should  pay  for  his  victim’s  loss  of  time, 
and  for  medical  treatment  until  he  was  thoroughly 
recovered  (18,  19). 

But  what  is  to  be  said  to  the  general  law7  of  retribu¬ 
tion  in  kind  ?  Our  Lord  has  forbidden  a  Christian,  in 
his  own  case,  to  exact  it.  But  it  does  not  follow  that 
it  was  unjust,  since  Christ  plainly  means  to  instruct 
private  persons  not  to  exact  their  rights,  whereas  the 
magistrate  continues  to  be  "a  revenger  to  execute 


344 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


justice.”  And,  as  St.  Augustine  argued  shrewdly,  “this 
command  was  not  given  for  exciting  the  fires  of  hatred, 
but  to  restrain  them.  For  who  would  easily  be  satis¬ 
fied  with  repaying  as  much  injury  as  he  received  ? 
Do  we  not  see  men  slightly  hurt  athirst  for  slaughter 
and  blood  ?  .  .  .  Upon  this  immoderate  and  unjust  ven¬ 
geance,  the  law  imposed  a  just  limit,  not  that  what  was 
quenched  might  be  kindled,  but  that  what  was  burning 
might  not  spread.”  (Cont.  Faust,  xix.  25.) 

It  is  also  to  be  observed  that  by  no  other  precept 
were  the  Jews  more  clearly  led  to  a  morality  still  higher 
than  it  prescribed.  Their  attention  was  first  drawn  to 
the  fact  that  a  compensation  in  money  was  nowhere 
forbidden,  as  in  the  case  of  murder  (Num.  xxxv.  31). 
Then  they  went  on  to  argue  that  such  compensation 
must  have  been  intended,  because  its  literal  observance 
teemed  with  difficulties.  If  an  eye  were  injured  but 
not  destroyed,  who  would  undertake  to  inflict  an 
equivalent  hurt?  What  if  a  blind  man  destroyed  an 
eye  ?  Would  it  be  reasonable  to  quench  utterly  the 
sight  of  a  one-eyed  man  who  had  only  destroyed  one- 
half  of  the  vision  of  his  neighbour  ?  Should  the  right 
hand  of  a  painter,  by  which  he  maintains  his  family,  be 
forfeited  for  that  of  a  singer  who  lives  by  his  voice  ? 
Would  not  the  cold  and  premeditated  operation  inflict 
far  greater  mental  and  even  physical  suffering  than  a 
sudden  wound  received  in  a  moment  of  excitement  ? 
By  all  these  considerations,  drawn  from  the  very  principle 
which  underlay  the  precept,  they  learned  to  relax  its 
pressure  in  actual  life.  The  law  was  already  their 
schoolmaster,  to  lead  them  beyond  itself  (vide  Kalisch 
in  loco). 

Lastly,  there  is  the  question  of  injury  to  the  person, 
wrought  by  cattle. 


xxi.  33-xxii.  15.] 


THE  LESSER  LAW. 


345 


It  is  clearly  to  deepen  the  sense  of  reverence  for 
human  life,  that  not  only  must  the  ox  which  kills  a 
man  be  slain,  but  his  flesh  may  not  be  eaten ;  thus 
carrying  further  the  early  aphorism  “at  the  hand  of 
every  beast  will  I  require  .  .  .  your  blood  ”  (Gen.  ix.  5). 
This  motive,  however,  does  not  betray  the  lawgiver 
into  injustice:  “the  owner  of  the  ox  shall  be  quit”; 
the  loss  of  his  beast  is  his  sufficient  penalty. 

But  if  its  evil  temper  has  been  previously  observed, 
and  he  has  been  warned,  then  his  recklessness  amounts 
to  blood-guiltiness,  and  he  must  die,  or  else  pay  what¬ 
ever  ransom  is  laid  upon  him.  This  last  clause  recog¬ 
nises  the  distinction  between  his  guilt  and  that  of  a 
deliberate  manslayer,  for  whose  crime  the  law  distinctly 
prohibited  a  composition  (Num.  xxxv.  31). 

And  it  is  expressly  provided,  according  to  the 
honourable  position  of  woman  in  the  Hebrew  state, 
that  the  penalty  for  a  daughter’s  life  shall  be  the  same 
as  for  that  of  a  son. 

As  a  slave  was  exposed  to  especial  risk,  and  his 
position  was  an  ignoble  one,  a  fixed  composition  was 
appointed,  and  the  amount  was  memorable.  The 
ransom  of  a  common  slave,  killed  by  the  horns  of  the 
wild  oxen,  was  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  the  goodly  price 
that  Messiah  was  prized  at  of  them  (Zech.  xi.  13). 

Part  III. — Rights  of  Property. 

xxi.  33 — xxii.  15. 

The  vital  and  quic  ening  principle  in  this  section 
is  the  stress  it  lays  upon  man’s  responsibility  for 
negligence,  and  the  indirect  consequences  of  his  deed. 
All  sin  is  selfish,  and  all  selfishness  ignores  the  right 
of  others.  Am  I  my  brother’s  keeper  ?  Let  him 


34^ 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


guard  his  own  property  or  pay  the  forfeit.  But  this 
sentiment  would  quickly  prove  a  disintegrating  force 
in  the  community,  able  to  overthrow  a  state.  It  is  the 
ignoble  negative  of  public  spirit,  patriotism,  all  by 
which  nations  prosper.  And  this  early  legislation  is 
well  devised  to  check  it  in  detail.  If  an  ox  fall  into  a 
pit  or  cistern,  from  which  I  have  removed  the  cover, 
I  must  pay  the  value  of  the  beast,  and  take  the  carcase 
for  what  it  may  be  worth.  I  ought  to  have  considered 
the  public  interest  (xxi.  33).  If  I  let  my  cattle  stray 
into  my  neighbour’s  field  or  vineyard,  there  must  be  no 
wrangling  about  the  quality  of  what  he  has  consumed  : 
I  must  forfeit  an  equal  quantity  of  the  best  of  my  own 
field  or  vineyard  (xxii.  5).  If  a  fire  of  my  kindling 
burn  his  grain,  standing  or  piled,  I  must  make  restitu¬ 
tion  :  I  had  no  right  to  kindle  it  where  he  was  brought 
into  hazard  (xxii.  6).  This  is  the  same  principle 
which  had  already  pronounced  it  murder  to  let  a  vicious 
ox  go  loose.  And  it  has  to  do  wfith  graver  things  than 
oxen  and  fires, — with  the  teachers  of  principles  rightly 
called  incendiary,  the  ingenious  theorists  who  let  loose 
abstract  speculations  pernicious  when  put  into  practice, 
the  well-behaved  questioners  of  morality,  and  the  law- 
abiding  assailants  of  the  foundations  which  uphold 
law. 

It  is  quite  in  the  same  spirit  that  I  am  accountable 
for  what  I  borrow  or  hire,  and  even  for  its  accidental 
death  (since  for  the  time  being  it  was  mine,  and  so 
should  the  loss  be) ;  but  if  I  hired  the  owner  with  his 
beast,  it  clearly  continued  to  be  in  his  charge  (14,  15). 
But  again,  my  responsibility  may  not  be  pressed  too 
far.  If  I  have  not  borrowed  property,  but  consented 
to  keep  it  for  the  owner,  the  risk  is  fairly  his,  and 
if  it  be  stolen,  the  presumption  is  not  against  my 


xxL  33-xxii.  15.] 


THE  LESSER  LAW. 


347 


integrity,  although  I  may  be  required  to  clear  myself 
on  oath  before  the  judges  (7,  8).  But  I  am  account¬ 
able  in  such  a  case  for  cattle,  because  it  was  certainly 
understood  that  I  should  watch  them ;  and  if  a  wild 
beast  have  torn  any,  I  must  prove  my  courage  and 
vigilance  by  rescuing  the  carcase  and  producing  it 
(10 — 13). 

But  I  must  not  be  plunged  into  litigation  without  a 
compensating  hazard  on  the  other  side  :  he  whom  God 
shall  condemn  shall  pay  double  unto  his  neighbour  (9). 

It  only  remains  to  be  observed,  with  regard  to 
theft,  that  when  cattle  was  recovered  yet  alive,  the 
thief  restored  double,  but  wrhen  his  act  was  con¬ 
summated  by  slaughtering  what  he  had  taken,  then  he 
restored  a  sheep  fourfold,  and  for  an  ox  five  oxen, 
because  his  villainy  w7as  more  high-handed.  And  we 
still  retain  the  law  which  allows  the  blood  of  a  robber 
at  night  to  be  shed,  but  forbids  it  in  the  day,  when 
help  can  more  easily  be  had. 

Ail  this  is  reasonable  and  enlightened  law ;  founded, 
like  all  good  legislation,  upon  clear  and  satisfactory 
principles,  and  well  calculated  to  elevate  the  tone 
of  the  public  feeling,  to  be  not  only  so  many  specific 
enactments,  but  also  the  germinant  seeds  of  good. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


THE  LESSER  LA  W  ( continued ). 

Part  IV. 

xxii.  1 6 — xxiii.  1 9. 

HE  Fourth  section  of  this  law  within  the  law 


X  consists  of  enactments,  curiously  disconnected, 
many  of  them  without  a  penalty,  varying  greatly  in 
importance,  but  all  of  a  moral  nature,  and  connected 
with  the  well-being  of  the  state.  It  is  hard  to  con¬ 
ceive  how  the  systematic  revision  of  which  we  hear  so 
much  could  have  left  them  in  the  condition  in  which 
they  stand. 

It  is  enacted  that  a  seducer  must  marry  the  woman 
he  has  betrayed,  and  if  her  father  refuse  to  give  her 
to  him,  then  he  must  pay  the  same  dower  as  a  bride¬ 
groom  would  have  done  (xxii.  16,  17).  And  presently 
the  sentence  of  death  is  launched  against  a  blacker 
sensual  crime  (19).  But  between  the  two  is  interposed 
the  celebrated  mandate  which  doomed  the  sorceress 
to  death,  remarkable  as  the  first  mention  of  witch¬ 
craft  in  Scripture,  and  the  only  passage  in  all  the 
Bible  where  the  word  is  in  the  feminine  form — a 
witch,  or  sorceress ;  remarkable  also  for  a  far  graver 
reason,  which  makes  it  necessary  to  linger  over  the 
subject  at  some  length. 


xxii.  1 8.] 


THE  LESSER  LA  IV. 


349 


SORCERY. 

u  Thou  shalt  not  suffer  a  sorceress  to  live.* — xxii.  18. 

The  world  knows  only  too  well  what  sad  and 
shameful  inferences  have  been  drawn  from  these 

s 

words.  Unspeakable  terrors,  estrangement  of  natural 
sympathy,  tortures  and  cruel  deaths,  have  been  in¬ 
flicted  on  many  thousands  of  the  most  forlorn  creatures 
upon  earth  (creatures  who  were  sustained  in  their 
sufferings  by  no  high  ardour  of  conviction  or  fanati¬ 
cism,  not  being  martyrs  but  simply  victims),  because 
it  was  held  that  Moses,  in  declaring  that  witches 
should  not  live,  affirmed  the  reality  of  witchcraft.  No 
sooner  did  the  argument  cease  to  be  dangerous  to  old 
women  than  it  became  formidable  to  religion  ;  for  now 
it  was  urged  that,  since  Moses  was  in  error  about  the 
reality  of  witchcraft,  his  legislation  could  not  have 
been  inspired. 

What  are  we  to  say  to  this  ? 

In  the  first  place  it  must  be  observed  that  the 
existence  of  a  sorcerer  is  one  thing,  and  the  reality 
of  his  powers  is  quite  another.  What  was  most  sad 
and  shameful  in  the  mediaeval  frenzy  was  the  burning 
to  ashes  of  multitudes  who  made  no  pretensions  to 
traffic  with  the  invisible  world,  who  frequently  held 
fast  their  innocence  while  enduring  the  agonies  of 
torture,  who  were  only  aged  and  ugly  and  alone. 
Upon  any  theory,  the  prohibition  of  sorcery  by  the 
Pentateuch  was  no  more  answerable  for  these  iniquities 
than  its  other  prohibitions  for  the  lynch  law  of  the 
backwoods. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  were  real  professors  of  the 
black  art:  men  did  pretend  to  hold  intercourse  with 


3So 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


spirits,  and  extorted  great  sums  from  their  dupes  in 
return  for  bringing  them  also  into  communion  with 
superhuman  beings.  These  it  is  reasonable  to  call 
sorcerers,  whether  we  accept  their  professions  or  not, 
just  as  we  speak  of  thought-readers  and  of  mediums 
without  being  understood  to  commit  ourselves  to  the 
pretensions  of  either  one  or  other.  In  point  of  fact, 
the  existence,  in  this  nineteenth  century  after  Christ,  of 
sorcerers  calling  themselves  mediums,  is  much  more 
surprising  than  the  existence  of  other  sorcerers  in  the 
time  of  Moses  or  of  Saul;  and  it  bears  startling  witness 
to  the  depth  in  human  nature  of  that  craving  for  traffic 
with  invisible  powers  which  the  law  prohibited  so 
sternly,  but  the  roots  of  which  neither  religion  nor  edu¬ 
cation  nor  scepticism  has  been  able  wholly  to  pluck  up. 

Again,  from  the  point  of  view  which  Moses  occupied, 
it  is  plain  that  such  professors  should  be  punished. 
They  are  virtually  punished  still,  whenever  they  obtain 
money  under  pretence  of  granting  interviews  with  the 
departed.  If  we  now  rely  chiefly  upon  educated  public 
opinion  to  stamp  out  such  impositions,  that  is  because 
we  have  decided  that  a  struggle  between  truth  and 
falsehood  upon  equal  terms  will  be  advantageous  to  the 
former.  It  is  a  subdivision  of  the  debate  between 
intolerance  and  free  thought.  Our  theory  works  well, 
but  not  universally  well,  even  under  modern  conditions 
and  in  Christian  lands.  And  assuredly  Moses  could 
not  proclaim  freedom  of  opinion,  among  uneducated 
slaves,  amid  the  pressure  of  splendid  and  of  seductive 
idolatries,  and  before  the  Holy  Ghost  was  given.  To 
complain  of  Moses  for  proscribing  false  religions  would 
be  to  denounce  the  use  of  glass  for  seedlings  because 
the  full-grown  plant  flourishes  in  the  open  air. 

Now,  it  would  have  been  preposterous  to  proscribe 


xxii.  18.] 


THE  LESSER  LAW. 


35i 


false  religions  and  yet  to  tolerate  the  sorcerer  and  the 
sorceress.  For  these  were  the  active  practitioners  of 
another  worship  than  that  of  God.  They  might  not 
profess  idolatry ;  but  they  offered  help  and  guidance 
from  sources  which  Jehovah  frowned  upon,  rival 
sources  of  defence  or  knowledge. 

The  holy  people  was  meant  to  grow  up  under  the 
most  elevating  of  all  influences,  reliance  upon  a  pro¬ 
tecting  God,  Who  had  bidden  His  children  to  subdue 
the  world  as  well  as  to  replenish  it,  and  of  Whom 
one  of  their  own  poets  sang  that  He  had  put  all  things 
under  the  feet  of  man.  Their  true  heritage  was  not 
bounded  by  the  strip  of  land  which  Joshua  and  his 
followers  slowly  conquered  ;  to  them  belonged  all  the 
resources  of  nature  which  science,  ever  since,  has 
wrested  from  the  Philistine  hands  of  barbarism  and 
ignorance.  And  this  nobler  conquest  depended  upon 
the  depth  and  sincerity  of  man’s  feeling  that  the  world 
is  well-ordered  and  stable  and  the  heritage  of  man,  not 
a  chaos  of  various  and  capricious  powers,  where  Pallas 
inspires  Diomed  to  hunt  Venus  bleeding  off  the  field, 
or  where  the  incantations  of  Canidia  may  disturb  the 
orderly  movements  of  the  skies.  Who  could  hope  to 
discover  by  inductive  science  the  secrets  of  such  a 
world  as  this  ? 

The  devices  of  magic  cut  the  links  between  cause 
and  effect,  between  studious  labour  and  the  fruits 
which  sorcery  bade  men  to  steal  rather  than  to  cul¬ 
tivate.  What  gambling  was  to  commerce,  that  was 
witchcraft  to  philosophy,  and  the  mischief  no  more 
depended  on  the  validity  of  its  methods  than  upon  the 
soundness  of  the  last  device  for  breaking  the  bank  at 
Monte  Carlo. 

If  one  could  actually  extort  their  secrets  from  the 


352 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


dead,  or  win  for  luxury  and  sloth  a  longer  life  than 
is  bestowed  upon  temperance  and  labour,  he  would 
succeed  in  his  revolt  against  the  God  of  nature.  But 
the  revolt  was  the  endeavour ;  and  the  sorcerer,  how¬ 
ever  falsely,  professed  to  have  succeeded  ;  and  preached 
the  same  revolt  to  others.  In  religion  he  was  therefore 
an  apostate,  and  in  the  theocracy  a  traitor  against 
the  King,  one  whose  life  wTas  forfeited  if  it  was  prudent 
to  exact  the  penalty. 

And  when  we  consider  the  fascination  wielded  by 
such  pretensions,  even  in  ages  when  the  stability  of 
nature  is  an  axiom,  the  dread  which  false  religions 
all  around  and  their  terrible  rituals  must  have  inspired, 
the  superstitious  tendencies  of  the  people  and  their 
readiness  to  be  misled,  we  shall  see  ample  reasons  for 
treading  out  the  first  sparks  of  so  dangerous  a  fire. 

Beyond  this  it  is  vain  to  pretend  that  the  law  of 
Moses  goes.  It  was  right  in  declaring  the  sorcerer 
and  the  sorceress  to  be  real  and  dangerous  phenomena. 
It  never  declared  their  pretensions  to  be  valid  though 
illegitimate.  And  in  one  noteworthy  passage  it  pro¬ 
claims  that  a  real  sign  or  a  wonder  could  only  proceed 
from  God,  and  when  it  accompanied  false  teaching 
was  still  a  sign,  though  an  ominous  one,  implying  that 
the  Lord  would  prove  them  (Deut.  xiii.  1-3).  This 
does  not  look  very  like  an  admission  of  the  existence 
of  rival  powers,  inferior  though  they  might  be,  who 
could  interfere  with  the  order  of  His  world. 

Sorcery  in  all  its  forms  will  die  when  men  realise 
indeed  that  the  world  is  His,  that  there  is  no  short  or 
crooked  way  to  the  prizes  which  He  offers  to  wisdom 
and  to  labour,  that  these  rewards  are  infinitely  richer 
and  more  splendid  than  the  wildest  dreams  of  magic, 
and  that  it  is  literally  true  that  all  power,  in  earth  as 


xxii.  21,  xxiii.  9.] 


THE  LESSER  LA  W. 


353 


well  as  heaven,  is  committed  into  the  Hands  which 
were  pierced  for  us.  In  such  a  conception  of  the 
universe,  incantations  give  place  to  prayers,  and 
prayer  does  not  seek  to  disturb,  but  to  carry  forward 
and  to  consummate,  the  orderly  rule  of  Love. 

The  denunciation  of  witchcraft  is  quite  naturally 
followed,  as  we  now  perceive,  by  the  reiteration  of 
the  command  that  no  sacrifice  may  be  offered  to  any 
god  except  Jehovah  (20).  Strange  and  hateful  offerings 
were  an  integral  part  of  witchcraft,  long  before  the 
hags  of  Macbeth  brewed  their  charm,  or  the  child  in 
Horace  famished  to  yield  a  spell. 


THE  STRANGER, 
xxii.  21,  xxiii.  9. 

Immediately  after  this,  a  ray  of  sunlight  falls  upon 
the  sombre  page. 

We  read  an  exhortation  rather  than  a  statute, 
which  is  repeated  almost  literally  in  the  next  chapter, 
and  in  both  is  supported  by  a  beautiful  and  touching 
reason.  “A  stranger  shalt  thou  not  wrong,  neither 
shall  ye  oppress  him  :  for  ye  were  strangers  in  the 
land  of  Egypt.”  “A  stranger  shall  ye  not  oppress, 
for  ye  know  the  heart  of  a  stranger,  seeing  ye  w^ere 
strangers  in  the  land  of  Egypt”  (xxii.  21,  xxiii.  9). 

The  “ stranger”  of  these  verses  is  probably  the 
settler  among  them,  as  distinguished  from  the  traveller 
passing  through  the  land.  His  want  of  friends  and 
ignorance  of  their  social  order  would  place  him  at  a 
disadvantage,  of  which  they  are  forbidden  to  avail 
themselves,  either  by  legal  process  (for  the  first  pas¬ 
sage  is  connected  with  jurisprudence),  or  in  the  affairs 
of  common  life.  But  the  spirit  of  the  commandment 

23 


354 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


could  not  fail  to  influence  their  treatment  of  all 
foreigners ;  and  simple  and  commonplace  though  it 
appear  to  us,  it  would  have  startled  many  of  the  wisest 
and  greatest  peoples  of  antiquity,  and  would  have 
fallen  as  strangely  upon  the  ears  of  the  Greeks  of 
Pericles,  as  of  the  modern  Bedouin,  with  whom  Israel 
had  kinship.  A  foreigner,  as  such,  was  a  foe  :  to 
wrong  him  was  a  paradox,  because  he  had  no  rights  : 
kinship,  or  else  alliance  or  treaty  was  required  to 
entitle  the  wTeaker  to  any  better  treatment  than  it 
suited  the  stronger  to  allow. 

Yet  we  find  a  precept  reiterated  in  this  Jewish  code 
which  involves,  in  its  inevitable  though  slow  develop¬ 
ment,  the  abolition  of  negro  slavery,  the  respect  by 
powerful  and  civilised  nations  of  the  rights  of  indigenous 
tribes,  the  most  boundless  advance  of  philanthropy, 
through  the  most  generous  recognition  of  the  fraternity 
of  man. 

However  sternly  the  sword  of  Joshua  might  fall,  it 
struck  not  at  the  foreigner,  as  such,  but  at  those  tribes, 
guilty  and  therefore  accursed  of  God,  the  cup  of  whose 
iniquity  was  full.  And  yet  there  was  enough  of 
carnage  to  prove  that  so  gracious  a  commandment  as 
this  could  not  have  risen  spontaneously  in  the  heart  of 
early  Judaism.  Does  it  seem  to  be  made  more  natural, 
by  any  proposed  shifting  of  the  date  ? 

The  reason  of  the  precept  is  beautifully  human.  It 
rests  upon  no  abstract  basis  of  common  rights,  nor 
prudential  consideration  of  mutual  advantage. 

In  our  time  it  is  sometimes  proposed  to  build  all 
morality  upon  such  foundations ;  and  strange  con¬ 
sequences  have  already  been  deduced  in  cases  wrhere 
the  proposed  sanction  has  not  seemed  to  apply.  But, 
in  fact,  no  advance  in  virtue  has  ever  been  traced  to 


xxii.  21,  xxiii.  9.] 


THE  LESSER  LA  IV. 


355 


self-interest,  although,  after  the  advance  took  place, 
self-interest  has  always  found  its  account  in  it.  A 
progressive  community  is  made  of  good  men,  and  the 
motive  to  which  Moses  appeals  is  compassion  fed  by 
memory  :  11  For  ye  were  strangers  in  the  land  of  Egypt  ” 
(xxii.  2 1)  ;  “  For  ye  know  the  heart  of  a  stranger,  see¬ 
ing  ye  were  strangers  in  the  land  of  Egypt  ”  (xxiii.  9). 

The  point  is  not  that  they  may  again  be  carried  into 
captivity  :  it  is  that  they  have  felt  its  bitterness,  and 
ought  to  recoil  from  inflicting  what  they  writhed  under. 

Now,  this  appeal  is  a  master-stroke  of  wisdom. 
Much  cruelty,  and  almost  all  the  cruelty  of  the  young, 
springs  from  ignorance,  and  that  slowness  of  the 
imagination  which  cannot  realise  that  the  pains  of 
others  are  like  our  own.  Feeling  them  to  be  so,  the 
charities  of  the  poor  toward  one  another  frequently 
rise  almost  to  sublimity.  And  thus,  when  suffering 
does  not  ulcerate  the  heart  and  make  it  savage,  it  is 
the  most  softening  of  all  influences.  In  one  of  the  most 
threadbare  lines  in  the  classics,  the  queen  of  Carthage 
boasts  that 

“  I,  not  ignorant  of  woe, 

To  pity  the  distressful  know.” 

And  the  boldest  assertion  in  Scripture  of  the  natural 
development  of  our  Saviour’s  human  powers,  is  that 
which  declares  that  “  In  that  He  Himself  hath  suffered, 
being  tempted,  He  is  able  to  succour  them  that  are 
tempted”  (Heb.  ii.  18). 

To  this  principle,  then,  Moses  appeals,  and  by  the 
appeal  he  educates  the  heart.  He  bids  the  people 
reflect  on  their  own  cruel  hardships,  on  the  hateful 
character  of  their  tyrants,  on  their  own  greater  hate¬ 
fulness  if  they  follow  the  vile  example,  after  such 
bitter  experience  of  its  character.  He  does  not  yet 


356 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


rise  to  the  grand  level  of  the  New  Testament  morality, 
Do  all  to  thy  neighbour  which  it  is  not  servile  and 
dependent  to  will  that  he  should  do  for  thee.  But 
he  attains  to  the  level  of  that  precept  of  Confucius 
and  Zoroaster  which  has  been  so  unworthily  compared 
with  it :  Do  not  unto  thy  neighbour  what  thou 
wouldest  not  that  he  should  do  to  thee — a  precept 
which  mere  indifference  obeys.  Nay,  he  excels  it ;  for 
the  mental  and  spiritual  attitude  of  one  who  respects 
his  helpless  neighbour  because  he  so  much  resembles 
himself,  will  surely  not  be  content  without  relieving 
the  griefs  that  have  so  closely  touched  him.  Thus 
again  the  legislation  of  Moses  looks  beyond  itself. 

Now,  if  the  Jew  should  be  merciful  because  he  had 
himself  known  calamity,  what  implicit  confidence  may 
we  repose  upon  the  Man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted 
with  grief? 

In  the  same  spirit  they  are  warned  against  afflicting 
the  widow  or  the  orphan.  And  the  threat  which  is 
added  joins  hand  with  the  exhortation  which  preceded. 
They  should  not  oppress  the  stranger,  because  they 
had  been  strangers  and  oppressed.  Now  the  argu¬ 
ment  advances.  The  same  God  Who  then  heard  their 
cry  will  hear  the  cry  of  the  forlorn,  and  avenge  them, 
according  to  the  judicial  fate  which  He  had  just 
announced,  in  kind,  by  bringing  their  own  wives  to 
widowhood  and  their  children  to  orphanage  (xxii. 
22-4). 

To  their  brethren  they  should  not  lend  money  upon 
usury ;  but  loans  are  no  more  recommended  than 
afterwards  by  Solomon  :  the  words  are  “  if  thou  lend  ” 
(ver.  25).  And  if  the  raiment  of  the  borrower  were 
taken  for  a  pledge,  it  must  be  returned  for  him  to  use  at 
night,  or  else  God  will  hear  his  cry,  because,  it  is  added 


xxii.  21,  xxiii.  9.] 


THE  LESSER  LAW. 


357 


very  significantly  and  briefly,  “  I  am  gracious"  (ver.  27). 
It  is  the  most  exalting  of  all  motives  :  Be  merciful, 
for  I  am  merciful :  ye  shall  be  the  children  of  your 
Father. 

Again  is  to  be  observed  the  influence  reaching 
beyond  the  prescription — the  motive  which  cannot  be 
felt  without  many  other  and  larger  consequences  than 
the  restoration  of  pledges  at  sunset. 

How  comes  this  precept  to  be  followed  by  the 
words,  “  Thou  shalt  not  curse  God  nor  blaspheme  a 
ruler  ”  (ver.  28)  ?  and  is  not  this  again  somewhat 
strangely  followed  by  the  order  not  to  delay  to  offer 
the  firstfruits  of  the  soil,  to  consecrate  the  firstborn 
son,  and  to  devote  the  firstborn  of  cattle  at  the 
same  age  when  a  son  ought  to  be  circumcised  ? 
(vers.  29,  30). 

If  any  link  can  be  discovered,  it  is  in  the  sense  of 
communion  with  God,  suggested  by  the  recent  appeal 
to  His  character  as  a  motive  that  should  weigh  with 
man.  Therefore  they  must  not  blaspheme  Him,  either 
directly  or  through  His  agents,  nor  tardily  yield  Him 
what  He  claims.  Therefore  it  is  added,  “Ye  shall 
be  holy  men  unto  Me,"  and  from  the  sense  of  dignity 
which  religion  thus  inspires,  a  homely  corollary  is 
deduced — “Ye  shall  not  eat  any  flesh  that  is  torn  of 
beasts  in  the  field"  (ver.  31).  The  bondmen  of  Egypt 
must  learn  a  high-minded  self-respect. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


THE  LESSER  LAW  ( continued ). 
xxiii.  I-19. 

THE  twenty-third  chapter  begins  with  a  series  of 
commands  bearing  upon  the  course  of  justice ; 
but  among  these  there  is  interjected  very  curiously 
a  command  to  bring  back  the  stray  ox  or  ass  of  an 
enemy,  and  to  help  under  a  burden  the  over-weighted 
ass  of  him  that  hateth  thee,  even  “if  thou  wouldest 
forbear  to  help  him.”  It  is  just  possible  that  the 
lawgiver,  urging  justice  in  the  bearing  of  testimony, 
interrupts  himself  to  speak  of  a  very  different  manner 
in  which  the  action  may  be  warped  by  prejudice, 
but  in  which  (unlike  the  other)  it  is  lawful  to  show 
not  only  impartiality  but  kindness.  The  help  of  the 
cattle  of  one’s  enemy  shows  that  in  the  bearing  of 
testimony  we  should  not  merely  abstain  from  down¬ 
right  wrong.  And  it  is  a  fine  example  of  the  spirit 
of  the  New  Testament,  in  the  Old. 

“Thou  shalt  not  take  up  a  false  report”  (ver.  1)  is 
a  precept  which  reaches  far.  How  many  heedless 
whispers,  conjectures  lightly  spoken  because  they  were 
amusing,  yet  influencing  the  course  of  lives,  and 
inferences  uncharitably  drawn,  would  have  been  still¬ 
born  if  this  had  teen  remembered  ! 

But  when  the  scandal  is  already  abroad,  the  tempta- 


xxiii.  1-19.3 


THE  LESSER  LA  IV. 


359 


tion  to  aid  its  progress  is  still  greater.  Therefore  it 
is  added,  “  Put  not  thine  hand  with  the  wicked  to  be 
an  unrighteous  witness.”  Whatever  be  the  menace 
or  the  bribe,  however  the  course  of  opinion  seem  to  be 
decided,  and  the  assent  of  an  individual  to  be  harmless 
because  the  result  is  sure,  or  blameless  because  the 
responsibility  lies  elsewhere,  still  each  man  is  a  unit, 
not  an  “item,”  and  must  act  for  himself,  as  hereafter 
he  must  give  account.  Hence  it  results  inevitably 
that  “Thou  shalt  not  follow  a  multitude  to  do  evil, 
neither  shalt  thou  speak  in  a  cause  to  turn  aside  after 
a  multitude  to  wrest  judgment  ”  (ver.  2).  The  blind 
impulses  of  a  multitude  are  often  as  misleading  as  the 
solicitations  of  the  bad,  and  to  aspiring  temperaments 
much  more  seductive.  There  is  indeed  a  strange 
magnetism  in  the  voice  of  the  public.  Every  orator 
knows  that  a  great  assembly  acts  upon  the  speaker  as 
really  as  he  acts  upon  it :  its  emotions  are  like  a  rush  of 
w7aters  to  sweep  him  away,  beyond  his  intentions  or  his 
ordinary  powers.  Yet  he  is  the  strongest  individual 
there  ;  no  other  has  at  all  the  same  opportunity  for 
self-assertion,  and  therefore  its  power  over  others 
must  be  more  complete  than  over  him. 

This  is  one  reason  for  the  institution  of  public 
worship.  Men  neglect  the  house  of  God  because  they 
can  pray  as  well  at  home,  and  encourage  wanton 
subdivisions  of  the  Church  because  they  think  there 
is  no  very  palpable  difference  between  competing 
denominations,  or  even  because  competition  may  be 
as  useful  in  religion  as  in  trade,  as  if  our  competition 
with  the  world  and  the  devil  for  souls  would  not 
sufficiently  animate  us,  without  competing  writh  one 
another.  But  in  acting  thus  they  wreaken  the  effect 
for  good  of  one  of  the  mightiest  influences  which  work 


3  6° 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


evil  among  us,  the  influence  of  association.  Men  are 
always  persuading  themselves  that  they  need  not  be 
better  than  their  neighbours,  nor  ashamed  of  doing 
what  every  one  does.  And  yet  no  voice  joins  in  a  cry 
without  deepening  it :  every  one  who  rushes  with  a 
crowd  makes  its  impulse  more  difficult  to  stem  ;  his 
individuality  is  not  ost  by  its  partnership  with  a 
thousand  more  ;  ar.d  he  is  accountable  for  what  he 
contributes  to  the  result.  He  has  parted  with  his 
self-control,  but  not  with  the  inner  forces  which  he 
ought  to  have  controlled. 

Against  this  dangerous  influence  of  the  world,  Christ 
has  set  the  contagion  of  godliness  within  His  Church, 
and  every  avoidable  subdivision  enfeebles  this  salutary 
counter-influence. 

Moses  warns  us,  therefore,  of  the  danger  of  being 
drawn  away  by  a  multitude  to  do  evil ;  but  he  is  think¬ 
ing  especially  of  the  peril  of  being  tempted  to  11  speak  M 
amiss.  Who  does  not  know  it?  From  the  statesman 
who  outruns  his  convictions  rather  than  break  with  his 
party,  and  who  cannot,  amid  deafening  cheers,  any 
longer  hear  his  conscience  speak,  down  to  the  humblest 
who  fails  to  confess  Christ  before  hostile  men,  and 
therefore  by-and-by  denies  Him,  there  is  not  one 
whose  speech  and  silence  have  never  been  in  danger 
of  being  set  to  the  sympathies  of  his  own  little  public 
like  a  song  to  music. 

That  Moses  was  really  thinking  of  this  tendency 
to  court  popularity,  is  plain  from  the  next  clause — 
il  Neither  shalt  thou  favour  a  poor  man  in  his  cause  ” 
(ver.  3). 

It  is  an  admirable  caution.  Men  there  are  who 
would  scorn  the  opposite  injustice,  and  from  whom 
no  rich  man  could  buy  a  wrongful  decision  with  gold 


xxiii.  1-19.3 


THE  LESSER  LAW. 


361 

or  favour,  but  who  are  habitually  unjust,  because  they 
load  the  other  scale.  The  beam  ought  to  hang 
straight.  When  justice  is  concerned,  the  poor  man’s 
friend  is  almost  as  contemptible  as  his  foe,  and  he 
has  taken  a  bribe,  if  not  in  the  mean  enjoyment  of 
democratic  popularity,  yet  in  his  own  pride — the  fancy 
that  he  has  done  a  magnanimous  act,  the  attitude  in 
which  he  poses. 

As  in  law  so  in  literature.  There  once  was  a 
tendency  to  describe  magnanimous  persons  of  quality, 
and  repulsive  clodhoppers  and  villagers.  Times  have 
changed,  and  now  we  think  it  much  more  ingenious 
and  high-toned  to  be  quite  as  partial  and  disingenuous, 
reversing  the  cases.  Neither  is  true,  and  therefore 
neither  is  artistic.  No  class  in  society  is  deficient 
in  noble  qualities,  or  in  base  ones.  Nor  is  the  man 
of  letters  at  all  more  independent,  w7ho  flatters  the 
democracy  in  a  democratic  age,  than  he  who  flattered 
the  aristocracy  when  they  had  all  the  prizes  to  bestow. 

Other  precepts  forbid  bribery,  command  that  the 
soil  shall  rest  in  the  seventh  year,  when  its  spon¬ 
taneous  produce  shall  be  for  the  poor,  and  further 
recognise  and  consecrate  relaxation,  by  instituting 
(or  more  probably  adopting  into  the  code)  the  three 
feasts  of  Passover,  Pentecost,  and  Tabernacles.  The 
section  closes  writh  the  words  “  Thou  shalt  not  seethe 
a  kid  in  his  mother’s  milk”  (ver.  19).  Upon  this 
clause  much  ingenuity  has  been  expended.  It  makes 
occult  reference  to  some  superstitious  rite.  It  is  the 
name  for  some  unduly  stimulating  compound.  But 
W’hen  we  remember  that,  just  before,  the  sabbatical  fruit 
which  the  poor  left  ungleaned  was  expressly  reserved 
for  the  beasts  of  the  field,  that  men  were  bidden  to 
help  the  overladen  ass  of  their  enemies,  and  that  care 


362 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


is  taken  elsewhere  that  the  ox  should  not  be  muzzled 
when  treading  out  grain,  that  the  birdnester  should 
not  take  the  dam  with  the  young,  and  that  neither 
cow  nor  ewe  should  be  slain  on  the  same  day  with 
its  young  (Deut.  xxv.  4,  xxii.  6;  Lev.  xxii.  28),  the 
simplest  meaning  seems  also  the  most  probable.  Men, 
who  have  been  taught  respect  for  their  fellow-men, 
are  also  to  learn  a  fine  sensibility  even  in  respect  to 
the  inferior  animals.  Throughout  all  this  code  there 
is  an  exquisite  tendency  to  form  a  considerate,  humane, 
delicate  and  high-minded  nation. 

It  remained,  to  stamp  upon  the  human  conscience  a 
deep  sense  of  responsibility. 


Part  V. — Its  Sanctions. 

xxiii.  20-33. 

This  summary  of  Judaism  being  now  complete,  the 
people  have  to  learn  what  mighty  issues  are  at  stake 
upon  their  obedience.  And  the  transition  is  very 
striking  from  the  simplest  duty  to  the  loftiest  privilege  : 
“Thou  shalt  not  seethe  a  kid  in  his  mother’s  milk. 
Behold,  I  send  an  Angel  before  thee.  .  .  .  Beware  of 
him:  for  My  Name  is  in  him”  (19-21). 

We  have  now  to  ask  how  much  this  mysterious 
phrase  involves;  who  was  the  Angel  of  whom  it 
speaks  ? 

The  question  is  not,  How  much  did  Israel  at  that 
moment  comprehend  ?  For  w?e  are  distinctly  told  that 
prophets  were  conscious  of  speaking  more  than  they 
understood,  and  searched  diligently  but  in  vain  what 
the  spirit  that  was  in  them  did  signify  (1  Peter  i.  11). 

It  would,  in  fact,  be  absurd  to  seek  the  New  Testa- 


THE  LESSER  LA  IV. 


363 


xxiii.  20-33.] 

ment  doctrine  of  the  Logos  full-blown  in  the  Pentateuch. 
But  it  is  mere  prejudice,  unphilosophical  and  presump¬ 
tuous,  to  shut  one’s  eyes  against  any  evidence  which 
may  be  forthcoming  that  the  earliest  books  of  Scripture 
were  tending  towards  the  last  conclusions  of  theology ; 
that  the  slender  overture  to  the  Divine  oratorio  indicates 
already  the  same  theme  which  thunders  from  all  the 
chorus  at  the  close. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  refute  the  position  that 
a  mere  “  messenger  ”  is  intended,  because  angels  have 
not  yet  “appeared  as  personal  agents  separate  from 
God.”  Kalisch  himself  has  amply  refuted  his  own 
theory.  For,  he  says,  “  we  are  compelled  ...  to 
refer  it  to  Moses  and  his  successor  Joshua”  (in  loco). 
So  then  He  Who  will  not  forgive  their  transgressions 
is  he  who  prayed  that  if  God  would  not  pardon  them, 
his  own  name  might  be  blotted  from  the  book  of  life. 
He,  to  whom  afterwards  God  said  “  I  will  proclaim 
the  name  of  the  Lord  before  thee”  (xxxiii.  19),  is  the 
same  of  Whom  God  said  “  My  name  is  in  Him.”  This 
position  needs  no  examination ;  but  the  perplexities 
of  those  wdio  reject  the  deeper  interpretation  is  a 
strong  confirmation  of  its  soundness.  We  have  still  to 
choose  between  the  promise  of  a  created  angel,  and 
some  manifestation  and  interposition  of  God,  distin¬ 
guished  from  Jehovah  and  yet  one  with  Him.  This 
latter  view  is  an  evident  preparation  for  clearer  know¬ 
ledge  yet  to  come.  It  is  enough  to  stamp  the  dis¬ 
pensation  which  puts  it  forth  as  but  provisional,  and 
therefore  bears  witness  to  that  other  dispensation 
which  has  the  key  to  it.  And  it  is  exactly  what  a 
Christian  w;ou!d  expect  to  find  somewhere  in  this 
summary  of  the  law. 

What,  then,  do  we  read  elsew'here  about  the  Angel 


364 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


of  Jehovah?  What  do  we  find,  especially,  in  these 
early  books  ? 

A  difficulty  has  to  be  met  at  the  very  outset.  The 
issue  would  be  decided  offhand,  if  it  could  be  shown 
that  the  Angel  of  this  verse  is  the  same  who  is  offered, 
as  a  poor  substitute  for  their  Divine  protector,  in  the 
thirty-third  chapter.  But  no  contrast  can  be  clearer 
than  between  the  encouraging  promise  before  us,  and 
the  sharp  menace  which  then  plunged  Israel  into 
mourning.  Here  is  an  Angel  who  must  not  be  pro¬ 
voked,  who  will  not  pardon  you,  because  11  My  Name 
is  in  Him.”  There  is  an  angel  who  wfill  be  sent 
because  God  will  not  go  up,  .  .  .  lest  He  consume  them 
(vers.  2,  3).  He  is  not  the  Angel  of  God’s  presence, 
but  of  His  absence.  When  the  intercession  of  Moses 
won  from  God  a  reversal  of  the  sentence,  He  then  said 
“  My  Presence  (My  Face)  shall  go  with  thee,  and  I 
will  give  thee  rest,”  *  but  Moses  answers,  not  yet 
reassured,  “If  Thy  Presence  (Thy  Face)  go  not  up 
wfith  us,  carry  us  not  up  hence.  For  wherein  shall  it 
be  known  that  I  have  found  grace  in  Thy  sight  ?  .  .  . 
Is  it  not  that  Thou  goest  with  us?  And  the  Lord 
said,  I  will  do  this  thing  also  that  thou  hast  spoken” 
('4-17)- 

Moreover,  Isaiah,  speaking  of  this  time,  says  that 
“  In  all  their  affliction  He  was  afflicted,  and  the  Angel 
of  His  Presence  (His  Face)  saved  them  ”  (Isa.  lxiii.  9). 

Thus  we  find  that  some  angel  is  to  be  sent  because 
God  wfill  not  go  up :  that  thereupon  the  nation  mourns, 


*  Even  if  the  rendering  were  accepted,  “  Must  My  Presence  (My 
Face)  go  with  thee  ?  ”  (Can  I  not  be  trusted  without  a  direct 
Presence  ?)  the  argument  would  not  be  affected,  because  Moses 
presses  for  the  favour  and  obtains  it. 


xxiii.  20-33.] 


THE  LESSER  LAW. 


365 


although  in  this  twenty-third  chapter  they  had  received 
as  a  gladdening  promise,  the  assurance  of  an  Angel 
escort  in  Whom  is  the  name  of  God  ;  that  in  response 
to  prayer  Gcd  promises  that  His  Face  shall  accompany 
them,  so  that  it  may  be  known  that  He  Himself  goes 
with  them ;  and  finally  that  His  Face  in  Exodus  is 
the  Angel  of  His  Face  in  Isaiah.  The  prophet  at  least 
had  no  doubt  whether  the  gracious  promise  in  the 
twenty-third  chapter  answered,  in  the  thirty-third 
chapter,  to  the  third  verse  or  the  fourteenth — to  the 
menace,  or  to  the  restored  favour. 

This  difficulty  being  now  converted  into  an  evidence, 
we  turn  back  to  examine  other  passages. 

When  the  Angel  of  the  Lord  spoke  to  Hagar,  11  she 
called  the  name  of  Jehovah  that  spake  unto  her  El  Roi n 
(Gen.  xvi.  1 1,  13).  When  God  tempted  Abraham,  “  the 
Angel  of  Jehovah  called  unto  him  out  of  heaven,  and 
said,  ...  I  know  that  thou  fearest  God,  seeing  thou 
hast  not  withheld  thy  son  .  .  .  from  Me"  (Gen.  xxii. 
II,  12).  When  a  man  wrestled  with  Jacob,  he  there¬ 
upon  claimed  to  have  seen  God  face  to  face,  and  called 
the  place  Peniel,  the  Face  (Presence)  of  God  (Gen.  xxxii. 
4,  30).  But  Hosea  tells  us  that  “  He  had  power  with 
God  :  yea,  he  had  power  over  the  Angel,  .  .  .  and 
there  He  spake  with  us,  even  Jehovah,  the  God  of 
hosts  ”  (Hos.  xii.  3,  5).  Even  earlier,  in  his  exile,  the 
Angel  of  the  Lord  had  appeared  unto  him  and  said, 
“  I  am  the  God  of  Bethel  .  .  .  where  thou  vowedst  a 
vow  unto  Me.”  But  the  vow  was  distinctly  made  to 
God  Himself :  lt  I  will  surely  give  the  tenth  to  Thee  ” 
(xxxi.  II,  13;  xxviii.  20,  22).  Is  it  any  wonder  that 
when  this  patriarch  blessed  Joseph,  he  said,  “The  God 
before  whom  my  fathers  Abraham  and  Isaac  did  walk, 
the  God  which  hath  fed  me  all  my  life  long  unto  this 


366 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


day,  the  Angel  which  hath  redeemed  me  from  all  evil, 
(may  He)  bless  the  lads”  (xlviii.  15,  16)? 

In  Exodus  iii.  2  the  Angel  of  the  Lord  appeared  out 
of  the  bush.  But  presently  He  changes  into  Jehovah 
Himself,  and  announces  Himself  to  be  Jehovah  the 
God  of  their  fathers  (iii.  2,  4,  15).  In  Exodus  xiii.  21 
Jehovah  went  before  Israel,  but  the  next  chapter  tells 
how  “the  Angel  of  the  Lord  which  went  before  Israel 
removed  and  went  behind  ”  (xiv.  19);  while  Numbers 
(xx.  16)  says  expressly  that  “He  sent  an  Angel  and 
brought  us  out  of  Egypt.” 

By  the  comparison  of  these  and  many  later  passages 
(which  is  nothing  but  the  scientific  process  of  induc¬ 
tion,  leaning  not  on  the  weight  of  any  single  verse,  but 
on  the  drift  and  tendency  of  all  the  phenomena)  wTe 
learn  that  God  was  already  revealing  Himself  through 
a  Medium,  a  distinct  personality  whom  He  could  send, 
yet  not  so  distinct  but  that  His  name  was  in  Him, 
and  He  Himself  was  the  Author  of  what  He  did. 

If  Israel  obeyed  Him,  He  would  bring  them  into  the 
promised  land  (ver.  23) ;  and  if  there  they  continued 
unseduced  by  false  worships,  He  would  bless  their 
provisions,  their  bodily  frame,  their  children ;  He 
would  bring  terror  and  a  hornet  against  their  foes  ; 
He  wTould  clear  the  land  before  them  as  fast  as  their 
population  could  enjoy  it ;  He  would  extend  their 
boundaries  yet  farther,  from  the  Red  Sea,  where 
Solomon  held  Ezion  Geber  (1  Kings  ix.  26),  to  the 
Mediterranean,  and  from  the  desert  where  they 
stood  to  the  Euphrates,  where  Solomon  actually 
possessed  Palmyra  and  Thiphsah  (2  Chron.  viii.  4;  1 
Kings  iv.  24). 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


THE  COVENANT  RATIFIED.  THE  VISION  OF  COD. 


xxiv, 


HE  opening  words  of  this  chapter  (“  Come  up 


JL  unto  the  Lord  ”)  imply,  without  explicitly  assert¬ 
ing,  that  Moses  was  first  sent  down  to  convey  to  Israel 
the  laws  which  had  just  been  enacted. 

This  code  they  unanimously  accepted,  and  he  wrote 
it  down.  It  is  a  memorable  statement,  recording  the 
origin  of  the  first  portion  of  Holy  Scripture  that  ever 
existed  as  such,  whatever  earlier  writings  may  now  or 
afterwards  have  been  incorporated  in  the  Pentateuch. 
He  then  built  an  altar  for  God,  and  twelve  pillars  for 
the  tribes,  and  sacrificed  burnt-offerings  and  peace- 
offerings  unto  the  Lord.  Sin-offerings,  it  will  be 
observed,  were  not  yet  instituted ;  and  neither  was  the 
priesthood,  so  that  young  men  slew  the  offerings. 
Half  of  the  blood  was  poured  upon  the  altar,  because 
God  had  perfected  His  share  in  the  covenant.  The 
remainder  was  not  used  until  the  law  had  been  read 
aloud,  and  the  people  had  answered  with  one  voice, 
u  All  that  the  Lord  hath  commanded  will  we  do,  and 
will  be  obedient.”  Thereupon  they  too  were  sprinkled 
with  the  blood,  and  the  solemn  words  were  spoken, 
“  Behold  the  blood  of  the  covenant  which  the  Lord  hath 
made  with  you  concerning  all  these  words.”  The 


368 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


people  were  now  finally  bound  :  no  later  covenant  of 
the  same  kind  will  be  found  in  the  Old  Testament. 

And  now  the  principle  began  to  work  which  was 
afterwards  embodied  in  the  priesthood.  That  principle, 
stated  broadly,  was  exclusion  from  the  presence  of 
Gcd,  relieved  and  made  hopeful  by  the  admission  of 
representatives.  The  people  were  still  forbidden  to 
approach,  under  pain  of  death.  But  Moses  and  Aaron 
were  no  longer  the  only  ones  to  cross  the  appointed 
boundaries.  With  them  came  the  two  sons  of  Aaron, 
(afterwards,  despite  their  privilege,  to  meet  a  dreadful 
doom,)  and  also  seventy  representatives  of  all  the 
newly  covenanted  people.  Joshua,  too,  as  the  servant 
of  Moses,  was  free  to  come,  although  unspecified  in 
the  summons  (vers.  I,  13). 

“They  saw  the  God  of  Israel,”  and  under  His  feet 
the  blueness  of  the  sky  like  intense  sapphire.  And 
they  were  secure :  they  beheld  God,  and  ate  and 
drank. 

But  in  privilege  itself  there  are  degrees :  Moses 
was  called  up  still  higher,  and  left  Aaron  and  Hur  to 
govern  the  people  while  he  communed  with  his  God. 
For  six  days  the  nation  saw  the  flanks  of  the  mountain 
swathed  in  cloud,  and  its  summit  crowned  with  the 
glory  of  Jehovah  like  devouring  fire.  Then  Moses 
entered  the  cloud,  and  during  forty  days  they  knew 
not  what  had  become  of  him.  Was  it  time  lost  ?  Say 
rather  that  all  time  is  wasted  except  what  is  spent  in 
communion,  direct  or  indirect,  with  the  Eternal. 

The  narrative  is  at  once  simple  and  sublime.  We 
are  sometimes  told  that  other  religions  besides  our 
own  rely  for  sanction  upon  their  supernatural  origin. 
“  Zarathustra,  Sakya-Mooni  and  Mahomed  pass  among 
their  followers  for  envoys  of  the  Godhead ;  and 


xxiv.] 


THE  COVENANT  RATIFIED. 


3*9 


in  the  estimation  of  the  Brahmin  the  Vedas  and 
the  laws  of  Manou  are  holy,  divine  books"  (Kuenen, 
Religion  of  Israel ,  i.  6).  This  is  true.  But  there  is  a 
wide  difference  between  nations  which  assert  that  God 
privately  appeared  to  their  teachers,  and  a  nation  which 
asserts  that  God  appeared  to  the  public.  It  is  not 
upon  the  word  of  Moses  that  Israel  is  said  to  have 
believed ;  and  even  those  who  reject  the  narrative 
are  not  entitled  to  confound  it  with  narratives  utterly 
dissimilar.  There  is  not  to  be  found  anywhere  a 
parallel  for  this  majestic  story. 

But  what  are  we  to  think  of  the  assertion  that  God 
was  seen  to  stand  upon  a  burning  mountain  ? 

He  it  is  Whom  no  man  hath  seen  or  can  see,  and 
in  His  presence  the  seraphim  veil  their  faces. 

It  will  not  suffice  to  answer  that  Moses  "  endured 
as  seeing  Him  that  is  invisible  ”  (Heb.  xi.  27),  for 
the  paraphrase  is  many  centuries  later,  and  hostile 
critics  will  rule  it  out  of  court  as  an  after-thought.  At 
least,  however,  it  proves  that  the  problem  was  faced 
long  ago,  and  tells  us  what  solution  satisfied  the  early 
Church. 

With  this  clue  before  us,  we  ask  what  notion  did 
the  narrative  really  convey  to  its  ancient  readers  ? 
If  our  defence  is  to  be  thoroughly  satisfactory,  it 
must  show  an  escape  from  heretical  and  carnal  notions 
of  deity,  not  only  for  ourselves,  but  also  for  careful 
readers  from  the  very  first. 

Now  it  is  certain  that  no  such  reader  could  for  one 
moment  think  of  a  manifestation  thorough,  exhaustive, 
such  as  the  eye  receives  of  colour  and  of  form. 
Because  the  effect  produced  is  not  satisfaction,  but 
desire.  Each  new  vision  deepens  the  sense  of  the 
unseen.  Thus  we  read  first  that  Moses  and  Aaron, 

24 


370 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


Nadab  and  Abihu  and  the  seventy  elders,  saw  God, 
from  which  revelation  the  people  felt  and  knew  them¬ 
selves  to  be  excluded.  And  yet  the  multitude  also 
had  a  vision  according  to  its  power  to  seej  and  indeed 
it  was  more  satisfying  to  them  than  was  the  most 
profound  insight  enjo}7ed  by  Moses.  To  see  God  is 
to  sail  to  the  horizon :  when  you  arrive,  the  horizon 
is  as  far  in  front  as  ever ;  but  you  have  gained  a  new 
consciousness  of  infinitude.  “  The  appearance  of  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  was  seen  like  devouring  fire  in 
the  eyes  of  the  children  of  Israel”  (ver.  17).  But 
Moses  was  aware  of  a  glory  far  greater  and  more 
spiritual  than  any  material  splendour.  When  theo- 
phanies  had  done  their  utmost,  his  longing  was  still 
unslaked,  and  he  cried  out,  “Show  me,  I  pray  Thee, 
Thy  glory”  (xxxiii.  18).  To  his  consciousness  that 
glory  was  still  veiled,  which  the  multitude  sufficiently 
beheld  in  the  flaming  mountain.  And  the  answer 
which  he  received  ought  to  put  the  question  at  rest 
for  ever,  since,  along  with  the  promise  “All  My  good¬ 
ness  shall  pass  before  thee,”  came  the  assertion  “  Thou 
shalt  not  see  My  face,  for  no  man  shall  see  Me  and 
live.” 

So,  then,  it  is  not  our  modern  theology,  but  this 
noble  book  of  Exodus  itself,  which  tells  us  that  Moses 
did  not  and  could  not  adequately  see  God,  however 
great  and  sacred  the  vision  which  he  beheld.  From 
this  book  we  learn  that,  side  by  side  with  the  most 
intimate  communion  and  the  clearest  possible  unveil¬ 
ing  of  God,  grew  up  the  profound  consciousness  that 
only  some  attributes  and  not  the  essence  of  deity  had 
been  displayed. 

It  is  very  instructive  also  to  observe  the  steps  by 
which  Moses  is  led  upward.  From  the  burning  bush 


xx  iv.] 


THE  COVENANT  RATIFIED. 


371 


to  the  fiery  cloud,  and  thence  to  the  blazing  mountain, 
there  was  an  ever-deepening  lesson  of  majesty  and 
awe.  But  in  answer  to  the  prayer  that  he  might 
really  see  the  very  glory  of  his  Lord,  his  mind  is  led 
away  upon  entirely  another  pathway  :  it  is  “  All  My 
goodness  ”  which  is  now  to  “  pass  before  ”  him,  and 
the  proclamation  is  of  “a  God  full  of  compassion  and 
gracious,”  yet  retaining  His  moral  firmness,  so  that 
He  11  will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty.” 

What  can  cloud  and  fire  avail,  toward  the  manifest¬ 
ing  of  a  God  Whose  essence  is  His  love  ?  It  is  from 
the  Old  Testament  narrative  that  the  New  Testament 
inferred  that  Moses  endured  as  seeing  indeed,  yet  as 
seeing  Him  Who  is  inevitably  and  for  ever  invisible 
to  eyes  of  flesh  :  he  learned  most,  not  when  he  beheld 
some  form  of  awe,  standing  on  a  paved  work  of 
sapphire  stone  and  as  it  were  the  very  heaven  for 
clearness,  but  when  hidden  in  a  cleft  of  the  rock  and 
covered  by  the  hand  of  God  while  He  passed  by. 

On  one  hand  the  people  saw  the  glory  of  God  : 
on  the  other  hand  it  was  the  best  lesson  taught  by 
a  far  closer  access,  still  to  pray  and  yearn  to  see  that 
glory.  The  seventy  beheld  the  God  of  Israel :  for 
their  leader  was  reserved  the  more  exalting  know¬ 
ledge,  that  beyond  all  vision  is  the  mystic  overshadow¬ 
ing  of  the  Divine,  and  a  voice  which  says  “  No  man 
shall  see  Me  and  live.”  The  difference  in  heart  is 
well  typified  in  this  difference  in  their  conduct,  that 
they  saw  God  and  ate  and  drank,  but  he,  for  forty 
days,  ate  not.  Satisfaction  and  assurance  are  a  poor 
ideal  compared  with  rapt  aspiration  and  desire. 

Thus  we  see  that  no  conflict  exists  between  this 
declaration  and  our  belief  in  the  spirituality  of  God. 

We  have  still  to  ask  what  is  the  real  force  of  the 


37* 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


assertion  that  God  was  in  some  lesser  sense  seen  of 
Israel,  and  again,  more  especially,  of  its  leaders. 

What  do  we  mean  even  by  saying  that  we  see 
each  other  ? — that,  observing  keenly,  we  see  upon  one 
face  cunning,  upon  another  sorrow,  upon  a  third  the 
peace  of  God?  Are  not  these  emotions  immaterial 
and  invisible  as  the  essence  of  God  Himself?  Nay, 
so  invisible  is  the  reality  within  each  bosom,  that  some 
day  all  that  eye  hath  seen  shall  fall  away  from  us,  and 
yet  the  true  man  shall  remain  intact. 

Man  has  never  seen  more  than  a  hint,  an  outcome, 
a  partial  self-revelation  or  self-betrayal  of  his  fellow- 
man. 

“Yes,  in  the  sea  of  life  in-isled, 

With  echoing  straits  between  us  thrown, 

Dotting  the  shoreless  watery  wild, 

We  mortal  millions  live  alone. 

•  ••••• 

God  bade  betwixt  ‘  our  ’  shores  to  be 
The  unplumb'd,  salt,  estranging  sea.” 

And  yet,  incredible  as  the  paradox  would  seem,  if 
it  were  not  too  common  to  be  strange,  the  play  of 
muscles  and  rush  of  blood,  visible  through  the  skin, 
do  reveal  the  most  spiritual  and  immaterial  changes. 
Even  so  the  heavens  declare  that  very  glory  of  God 
which  baffled  the  undimmed  eyes  of  Moses.  So  it 
was,  also,  that  when  rended  rocks  and  burning  skies 
revealed  a  more  immanent  action  of  Him  Who  moves 
through  all  nature  always,  when  convulsions  hitherto 
undreamed  of  by  those  dwellers  in  Egyptian  plains 
overwhelmed  them  with  a  new  sense  of  their  own 
smallness  and  a  supreme  Presence,  God  was  manifested 
there. 

Not  unlike  this  is  the  explanation  of  St.  Augustine. 


XXIV.] 


THE  COVENANT  RATIFIED. 


373 


“  We  need  not  be  surprised  that  God,  invisible  as  He 
is,  appeared  visibly  to  the  patriarchs.  For,  as  the 
sound  which  communicates  the  thought  conceived  in 
the  silence  of  the  mind  is  not  the  thought  itself,  so 
the  form  by  which  God,  invisible  in  His  own  nature, 
became  visible,  w’as  not  God  Himself.  Nevertheless 
it  was  He  Himself  Who  was  seen  under  that  form, 
as  the  thought  itself  is  heard  in  the  sound  of  the 
voice ;  and  the  patriarchs  recognised  that,  although 
the  bodily  form  was  not  God,  they  saw  the  invisible 
God.  For,  though  Moses  was  conversing  with  God, 
yet  he  said,  “  If  I  have  found  grace  in  Thy  sight, 
show  me  Thyself”  ( De  Civ.  Dei,  x.  13).  And  again: 
“  He  knew  that  he  saw  corporeally,  but  he  sought 
the  true  vision  of  God  spiritually  ”  ( De  Trin.,  ii.  27). 

It  has  still  to  be  added  that  His  manifestation  is 
exactly  suited  to  the  stage  now  reached  in  the  educa¬ 
tion  of  Israel.  Their  fathers  had  already  11  seen  God  ” 
in  the  likeness  of  man :  Abraham  had  entertained 
Him ;  Jacob  had  wrestled  with  Him.  And  so  Joshua 
before  Ai,  and  Manoah  by  the  rock  at  Zorah,  and 
Ezekiel  by  the  river  Chebar,  should  see  the  likeness 
of  a  man.  We  who  believe  the  doctrine  of  a  real 
Incarnation  can  well  perceive  that  in  these  passing 
and  mysterious  glimpses  God  was  not  only  revealing 
Himself  in  the  way  which  would  best  prepare  humanity 
for  His  future  coming  in  actual  manhood,  but  also  in 
the  way  by  which,  meanwhile,  the  truest  and  deepest 
light  could  be  thrown  upon  His  nature,  a  nature  which 
could  hereafter  perfectly  manifest  itself  in  flesh.  Why, 
then,  do  not  the  records  of  the  Exodus  hint  at  a  human 
likeness  ?  Why  did  they  “  behold  no  similitude  ”  ? 
Clearly  because  the  masses  of  Israel  were  utterly  un¬ 
prepared  to  receive  rightly  such  a  vision.  To  them 


0*7  4 

o/4 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


the  likeness  of  man  would  have  meant  no  more  than 
the  likeness  of  a  flying  eagle  or  a  calf.  Idolatry  would 
have  followed,  but  no  sense  of  sympathy,  no  con¬ 
sciousness  of  the  grandeur  and  responsibility  of  being 
made  in  the  likeness  of  God.  Anthropomorphism  is 
a  heresy,  although  the  Incarnation  is  the  crowning 
doctrine  of  the  faith. 

But  it  is  hard  to  see  why  the  human  likeness  of 
God  should  exist  in  Genesis  and  Joshua,  but  not  in 
the  history  of  the  Exodus,  if  that  story  be  a  post- 
Exilian  forgery. 

This  is  not  all.  The  revelations  of  God  in  the 
desert  were  connected  with  threats  and  prohibitions : 
the  law  was  given  by  Moses ;  grace  and  truth  came 
by  Jesus  Christ.  And  with  the  different  tone  of  the 
message  a  different  aspect  of  the  speaker  was  to  be 
expected.  From  the  blazing  crags  of  Sinai,  fenced 
around,  the  voice  of  a  trumpet  waxing  louder  and 
louder,  said  “Thou  shalt  not  !  ”  On  the  green  hill  by 
the  Galilsean  lake  Jesus  sat  down,  and  His  disciples 
came  unto  Him,  and  He  opened  His  mouth  and  said 
“  Blessed." 

Now,  the  conscience  of  every  sinner  knows  that  the 
God  of  the  commandments  is  dreadful.  It  is  of  Him, 
not  of  hell,  that  Isaiah  said  “  The  sinners  in  Zion 
are  afraid ;  trembling  hath  surprised  the  godless  ones. 
Who  among  us  shall  dwell  with  the  devouring  fire  ? 
who  among  us  shall  dwell  with  everlasting  burnings  ?  ” 
(Isa.  xxxiii.  14). 

For  him  who  rejects  the  light  yoke  of  the  Lord  of 
Love,  the  fires  of  Sinai  are  still  the  truest  revelation 
of  deity ;  and  we  must  not  deny  Sinai  because  we 
know  Bethlehem.  We  must  choose  between  the  two. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


THE  SHRINE  AND  ITS  FURNITURE. 

XXV.  1-40. 

HE  first  direction  given  to  Moses  on  the  mountain 


JL  is  to  prepare  for  the  making  of  a  tabernacle 
wherein  God  may  dwell  with  man.  For  this  he  must 
invite  offerings  of  various  kinds,  metals  and  gems,  skins 
and  fabrics,  oil  and  spices  ;  and  the  humblest  man 
whose  heart  is  willing  may  contribute  toward  an  abode 
for  Him  Whom  the  heaven  of  heavens  cannot  contain. 

Strange  indeed  is  the  contrast  between  the  mountain 
burning  up  to  heaven,  and  the  lowly  structure  of  the 
wood  of  the  desert,  which  was  now  to  be  erected  by 
subscription. 

And  yet  the  change  marks  not  a  lower  conception 
of  deity,  but  an  advance,  just  as  the  quiet  and  serene 
communion  of  a  saint  with  God  is  loftier  than  the  most 
agitating  experience  of  the  convert. 

This  is  the  first  announcement  of  a  fixed  abiding 
presence  of  God  in  the  midst  of  men,  and  it  is  there¬ 
fore  the  precursor  of  much.  St.  John  certainly  alluded 
to  this  earliest  dwelling  of  God  on  earth  when  he  wrote, 
“The  Word  was  made  flesh,  and  tabernacled  among 
us ”  (John  i.  14).  A  little  later  it  was  said,  “Ye  also 
are  builded  together  for  an  habitation  of  God"  (Eph. 
ii.  22)  ;  and  again  the  very  words  used  at  first  of  the 


37^ 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


tabernacle  are  applied  to  faithful  souls :  "  We  are  a 
temple  of  the  living  God,  as  God  said,  I  will  dwell  in 
them  and  walk  in  them”  (2  Cor.  vi.  16;  Lev.  xxvi.  Ii). 
For  God  dwelt  on  earth  in  the  Messiah  hidden  by  the 
veil,  that  is  to  say  His  flesh  (Heb.  x.  20),  and  also  in 
the  hearts  of  all  the  faithful.  And  a  yet  fuller  com¬ 
munion  is  to  come,  of  which  the  tabernacle  in  the 
wilderness  was  a  type,  even  the  descent  of  the  Holy 
City,  when  the  true  tabernacle  of  God  shall  be  with 
men,  and  He  shall  tabernacle  with  them  (Rev.  xxi.  3). 

It  may  seem  strange  that  after  the  commandment 
il  Let  them  make  Me  a  sanctuary  ”  the  whole  chapter  is 
devoted  to  instructions,  not  for  the  tabernacle  but  for 
its  furniture.  But  indeed  the  four  articles  enumerated 
in  this  chapter  present  a  wonderfully  graphic  picture  of 
the  nature  and  terms  of  the  intercourse  of  Gcd  with 
man.  On  one  side  is  His  revelation  of  righteousness, 
but  righteousness  propitiated  and  become  gracious,  and 
this  is  symbolised  by  the  ark  of  the  testimony  and 
the  mercy-seat.  On  the  ether  side  the  consecration 
both  of  secular  and  sacred  life  is  typified  by  the 
table  with  bread  and  wine,  and  by  the  golden  candle¬ 
stick.  Except  thus,  no  tabernacle  could  have  been 
the  dwelling  of  the  Lord,  nor  ever  shall  be. 

And  this  is  the  true  reason  why  the  altar  of  incense 
is  not  even  mentioned  until  a  later  chapter  (xxx.).  We 
do  homage  to  God  because  He  is  present :  it  is  rather 
the  consequence  than  the  condition  of  His  abode 
with  us. 

The  first  step  towards  the  preparation  of  a  shrine  for 
God  on  earth  is  the  enshrining  of  His  will :  Moses 
should  therefore  make  first  of  all  an  ark,  wherein  to 
treasure  up  “the  testimony  which  I  shall  give  thee,” 
the  two  tables  of  the  law  (xxv.  16).  In  it  were  also 


xxv.  1-40.]  THE  SHRINE  AND  ITS  FURNITURE. 


377 


the  pot  of  manna  and  Aaron’s  rod  which  budded 
(Heb.  ix.  4),  and  beside  it  was  laid  the  whole  book  of 
the  law,  for  a  testimony,  alas  !  against  them  (Deut. 
xxxi.  26). 

Thus  the  ark  was  to  treasure  up  the  expression  of 
the  will  of  God,  and  the  relics  which  told  by  what 
mercies  and  deliverances  He  claimed  obedience.  It 
was  a  precious  thing,  but  not  the  most  precious,  as  we 
shall  presently  learn ;  and  therefore  it  was  not  made 
of  pure  gold,  but  overlaid  with  it.  That  it  might  be 
reverently  carried,  four  rings  were  cast  and  fastened  to 
it  at  the  lower  corners,  and  in  these  four  staves,  also 
overlaid  with  gold,  were  permanently  inserted. 

The  next  article  mentioned  is  the  most  important 
of  all. 

It  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  the 
mercy-seat  was  a  mere  lid,  an  ordinary  portion  of  the 
ark  itself.  It  was  made  of  a  different  and  more  costly 
material,  of  pure  gold,  with  which  the  ark  was  only 
overlaid.  There  is  separate  mention  that  Bezaleel 
“made  the  ark,  .  .  .  and  he  made  the  mercy- seat  ” 
(xxxvii.  I,  6),  and  the  special  presence  of  God  in  the 
Most  Holy  Place  is  connected  much  more  intimately 
with  the  mercy-seat  than  with  the  remainder  of  the 
structure.  Thus  He  promises  to  “appear  in  the  cloud 
above  the  mercy-seat  ”  (Lev.  xvi.  2).  And  when  it  is 
written  that  “  Moses  heard  the  Voice  speaking  unto 
him  from  above  the  mercy- seat  which  is  upon  the  ark 
of  the  testimony”  (Num.  vii.  89),  it  would  have  been 
more  natural  to  say  directly  “  from  above  the  ark  ” 
unless  some  stress  were  to  be  laid  upon  the  interposing 
slab  of  gold.  In  reality  no  distinction  could  be  sharper 
than  between  the  ark  and  its  cover,  from  whence  to 
hear  the  voice  of  God.  And  so  thoroughly  did  all 


378 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


the  symbolism  of  the  Most  Holy  Place  gather  around 
this  supreme  object,  that  in  one  place  it  is  actually 
called  “  the  house  of  the  mercy-seat"  (i  Chron. 
xxviii.  n). 

Let  us,  then,  put  ourselves  into  the  place  of  an 
ancient  worshipper.  Excluded  though  he  is  from  the 
Holy  Place,  and  conscious  that  even  the  priests  are 
shut  out  from  the  inner  shrine,  yet  the  high  priest 
who  enters  is  his  brother:  he  goes  on  his  behalf:  the 
barrier  is  a  curtain,  not  a  wall. 

But  while  the  Israelite  mused  upon  what  was  beyond, 
the  ark,  as  we  have  seen,  suggests  the  depth  of  his 
obligation ;  for  there  is  the  rod  of  his  deliverance  and 
the  bread  from  heaven  which  fed  him  ;  and  there  also 
are  the  commandments  which  he  ought  to  have  kept. 
And  his  conscience  tells  him  of  ingratitude  and  a 
broken  covenant ;  by  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin. 

It  is  therefore  a  sinister  and  menacing  thought  that 
immediately  above  this  ark  of  the  violated  covenant 
burns  the  visible  manifestation  of  God,  his  injured 
Benefactor. 

And  hence  arises  the  golden  value  of  that  which 
interposes,  beneath  which  the  accusing  law  is  buried, 
by  means  of  which  God  “  hides  His  face  from  our  sins." 

The  worshipper  knows  this  cover  to  be  provided 
by  a  separate  ordinance  of  God,  after  the  ark  and  its 
contents  had  been  arranged  for,  and  finds  in  it  a  vivid 
concrete  representation  of  the  idea  “  Thou  hast  cast  all 
my  sins  behind  Thy  back"  (Isa.  xxxviii.  17).  That 
this  was  its  true  intention  becomes  more  evident  when 
we  ascertain  exactly  the  meaning  of  the  term  which 
we  have,  not  too  precisely,  rendered  “  mercy-seat.” 

The  word  11  seat  "  has  no  part  in  the  original ;  and 
we  are  not  to  think  of  God  as  reposing  on  it,  but  as 


xxv.  1-40.]  THE  SHRINE  AND  ITS  FURNITURE. 


379 


revealing  Himself  above.  The  erroneous  notion  has 
probably  transferred  itself  to  the  type  from  the  heavenly 
antitype,  which  is  “  the  throne  of  grace/’  but  it  has  no 
countenance  either  in  the  Greek  or  the  Hebrew  name 
of  the  Mosaic  institution.  Nor  is  the  notion  expressed 
that  of  gratuitous  and  unbought  “  mercy.”  When 
Jehovah  showeth  mercy  unto  thousands,  the  word  is 
different.  It  is  true  that  the  root  means  11  to  cover,” 
and  is  once  employed  in  Scripture  in  that  sense  (Gen. 
vi.  14)  ;  but  its  ethical  use  is  generally  connected  with 
sacrifice  ;  and  when  we  read  of  a  “ sin-offering  for  atone¬ 
ment"  of  the  half-shekel  being  an  “  atonement- money,” 
and  of  “  the  day  of  atonement the  word  is  a  simple 
and  very  similar  development  from  the  same  root  with 
this  which  we  render  mercy-seat  (Exod.  xxx.  10,  16; 
Lev.  xxiii.  27,  etc.). 

The  Greek  word  is  found  twice  in  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  :  once  when  the  cherubim  of  glory  overshadow  the 
mercy-seat ,  and  again  wThen  God  hath  set  forth  Christ  to 
be  a  propitiation  (Heb.  ix.  5  ;  Rom.  iii.  25).  The  mercy- 
seat  is  therefore  to  be  thought  of  in  connection  with 
sin,  but  sin  expiated  and  thus  covered  and  put  away. 

We  know  mysteries  which  the  Israelite  could  not 
guess  of  the  means  by  which  this  was  brought  to  pass. 
But  as  he  watched  the  high  priest  disappearing  into  that 
awful  solitude,  with  God,  as  he  listened  to  the  chime  of 
bells,  swung  by  his  movements,  and  announcing  that 
still  he  lived,  two  conditions  stood  out  broadly  before 
his  mind.  One  was  the  bringing  in  of  incense:  “Thou 
shalt  bring  a  censer  full  of  burning  coals  of  fire  from 
before  the  altar,  that  the  cloud  of  the  incense  may  cover 
the  mercy-seat”  (Lev.  xvi.  13).  Now,  the  connection 
between  prayer  and  incense  was  quite  familiar  to  the 
Jew ;  and  he  could  not  but  understand  that  the 


380 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


blessing  of  atonement  was  to  be  sought  and  won  by 
intense  and  burning  supplication.  And  the  other  was 
that  invariable  demand,  the  offering  of  a  victim’s  blood. 
All  the  sacrifices  of  Judaism  culminated  in  the  great 
act  when  the  high  priest,  standing  in  the  most  holy 
and  the  most  occult  spot  in  all  the  world,  sprinkled 
“  blood  upon  the  mercy-seat  eastwards,  and  before 
the  mercy-seat  sprinkled  of  the  blood  with  his  finger 
seven  times”  (Lev.  xvi.  14). 

Thus  the  crowning  height  of  the  Jewish  ritual  was 
attained  when  the  blood  of  the  great  national  sacrifice 
was  offered  not  only  before  God,  but,  with  special 
reference  to  the  covering  up  of  the  broken  and  accusing 
law,  before  the  mercy-seat. 

No  wonder  that  on  either  side  of  it,  and  moulded 
of  the  same  mass  of  metal,  were  the  cherubim  in  an 
attitude  of  adoration,  their  outspread  wings  covering 
it,  their  faces  bent,  not  only  as  bowing  in  reverence 
before  the  Divine  presence,  but,  as  we  expressly  read, 
“toward  the  mercy-seat  shall  the  faces  of  the  cherubim 
be.”  For  the  meaning  of  this  great  symbol  was  among 
the  things  which  “  the  angels  desire  to  look  into.” 

We  now  understand  how  much  was  gained  when 
God  said  “There  will  I  meet  thee,  and  I  will  commune 
with  thee  from  above  the  mercy-seat”  (ver.  22).  It 
was  an  assurance,  not  only  of  the  love  which  desires 
obedience,  but  of  the  mercy  which  passes  over  failure.* 

*  This  investigation  offers  a  fine  example  of  the  folly  of  that  kind 
of  interpretation  which  looks  about  for  some  sort  of  external  and 
arbitrary  resemblance,  and  fastens  upon  that  as  the  true  meaning. 
Nothing  is  more  common  among  these  expounders  than  to  declare 
that  the  wood  and  gold  of  the  ark  are  types  of  the  human  and  Divine 
natures  of  our  Lord.  If  either  ark  or  mercy-scat  should  be  compared 
to  Him,  it  is  obviously  the  latter,  which  speaks  of  mercy.  But  this 
was  of  pure  gold. 


xxv.  1-40.]  THE  SHRINE  AND  ITS  FURNITURE. 


38i 


Thus  far,  there  has  been  symbolised  the  mind  of 
Gcd,  His  righteousness  and  His  grace. 

The-  next  articles  have  to  do  with  man,  his  homage 
tc  God  and  his  witness  for  Him. 

There  is  first  the  table  of  the  shewbread  (vers.  23-30), 
overlaid  with  pure  gold,  surrounded,  like  the  ark,  with 
u  a  crown  ”  or  moulding  of  gold,  for  ornament  and  the 
greater  security  of  the  loaves,  and  strengthened  by 
a  border  of  pure  gold  carried  around  the  base,  which 
was  also  ornamented  with  a  crown,  or  moulding. 
Close  to  this  border  were  rings  for  staves,  like  those 
by  which  the  ark  was  borne.  The  table  was  furnished 
with  dishes  upon  which,  every  Sabbath  day,  new 
shewbread  might  be  conve}'ed  into  the  tabernacle, 
and  the  old  might  be  removed  for  the  priests  to  eat. 
There  were  spoons  also,  by  which  to  place  frankincense 
upon  each  pile  of  bread  ;  and  u  flagons  and  bowls 
to  pour  out  withal.”  What  was  thus  to  be  poured 
we  do  not  read,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  was 
wine,  second  only  to  bread  as  a  requisite  of  Jewish  life, 
and  forming,  like  the  frankincense,  a  link  between 
this  weekly  presentation  and  the  meal-offerings.  But 
all  these  were  subordinate  to  the  twelve  loaves,  one 
for  each  tribe,  which  were  laid  in  two  piles  upon 
the  table.  It  is  clear  that  their  presentation  was  the 
essence  of  the  rite,  and  not  their  consumption  by  the 
priests,  which  was  possibly  little  more  than  a  safe¬ 
guard  against  irreverent  treatment.  For  the  wrord 
shewbread  is  literally  bread  of  the  face  or  presence, 
which  word  is  used  of  the  presence  of  God,  in  the 
famous  prayer  “  If  Thy  presence  go  not  with  me, 
carry  us  not  up  hence”  (xxxiii.  15).  And  of  whom, 
other  than  God,  can  it  here  be  reasonably  understood  ? 
Now  Jacob,  long  before,  had  vowed  il  Of  all  that  Thou 


382 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


givest  me,  I  will  surely  give  the  tenth  to  Thee” 
(Gen.  xxviii.  22).  And  it  was  an  edifying  ordinance 
that  a  regular  offering  should  be  made  to  God  of 
the  staple  necessaries  of  existence,  as  a  confession  that 
all  came  from  Him,  and  an  appeal,  clearly  expressed 
by  covering  it  with  frankincense,  which  typified  prayer 
(Lev.  xxiv.  7)  that  He  would  continue  to  supply 
their  need. 

Nor  is  it  overstrained  to  add,  that  when  this  bread 
was  given  to  their  priestly  representatives  to  eat,  with 
all  reverence  and  in  a  holy  place,  God  responded,  and 
gave  back  to  His  people  that  which  represented  the 
necessary  maintenance  of  the  tribes.  Thus  it  was, 
“  on  the  behalf  of  the  children  of  Israel,  an  ever- 
laying  covenant”  (Lev.  xxiv.  8). 

The  form  has  perished.  But  as  long  as  we  con¬ 
fess  in  the  Lord’s  Prayer  that  the  wealthiest  does 
not  possess  one  day’s  bread  ur.given — as  long,  also, 
as  Christian  families  connect  every  meal  with  a  due 
acknowledgment  of  dependence  and  of  gratitude — so 
long  will  the  Church  of  Christ  continue  to  make  the 
same  confession  and  appeal  which  were  offered  in 
the  shewbread  upon  the  table. 

The  next  article  of  furniture  W’as  the  golden  candle¬ 
stick  (vers.  31-40).  And  this  presents  the  curious 
phenomenon  that  it  is  extremely  clear  in  its  typical 
import,  and  in  its  material  outline;  but  the  details 
of  the  description  are  most  obscure,  and  impossible 
to  be  gathered  from  the  Authorised  Version.  Strictly 
speaking,  it  was  not  a  lamp,  but  only  a  gorgeous 
lampstand,  with  one  perpendicular  shaft,  and  six 
branches,  three  springing,  one  above  another,  from  each 
side  of  the  shaft,  and  all  curving  up  to  the  same 
height.  Upon  these  were  laid  the  seven  lamps,  wThich 


xxv.  1-40.]  THE  SHRINE  AND  ITS  FURNITURE.  383 


were  altogether  separate  in  their  construction  (ver.  37). 
It  was  of  pure  gold,  the  base  and  the  main  shaft 
being  of  one  piece  of  beaten  metal.  Each  of  the 
six  branches  was  ornamented  with  three  cups,  made 
like  almond  blossoms;  above  these  a  “knop,”  variously 
compared  by  Jewish  writers  to  an  apple  and  a  pome¬ 
granate,  and  still  higher,  a  flower  or  bud.  It  is 
believed  that  there  wTas  a  fruit  and  flower  above 
each  of  the  cups,  making  nine  ornaments  on  each 
branch.  The  “  candlestick  ”  in  ver.  34  can  only  mean 
the  central  shaft,  and  upon  this  there  were  11  four 
cups  with  their  knops  and  flowrers  ”  instead  of  three. 
With  the  lamp  wrere  tongs,  and  snuff-dishes  in  w7hich 
to  remove  the  charred  wick  from  the  temple. 

As  we  are  told  that  when  the  Lord  called  the  child 
Samuel,  “  the  lamp  of  God  was  not  yet  gone  out” 
(1  Sam.  iii.  3),  it  follows  that  the  lights  w?ere  kept 
burning  only  during  the  night. 

We  have  now  to  ascertain  the  spiritual  meaning 
of  this  stately  symbol.  There  are  two  other  passages 
in  Scripture  w’hich  take  up  the  figure  and  carry  it 
forward.  In  Zechariah  (iv.  2-12)  wre  are  taught  that 
the  separation  of  the  lamps  is  a  mere  incident ;  they 
are  to  be  conceived  of  as  organically  one,  and  more¬ 
over  as  fed  by  secret  ducts  with  oil  from  no  limited 
supply,  but  from  living  olive  trees,  vital,  rooted  in  the 
system  of  the  universe.  Whatever  obscurity  may  veil 
those  “  tw'O  sons  of  oil  ”  (and  this  is  not  the  place  to 
discuss  the  subject),  we  are  distinctly  told  that  the  main 
lesson  is  that  of  lustre  derived  from  supernatural,  in¬ 
visible  sources.  Zerubbabel  is  confronted  by  a  great 
mountain  of  hindrance,  but  it  shall  become  a  plain 
before  him,  because  the  lesson  of  the  vision  of  the 
candlestick  is  this — “  Not  by  might,  ncr  by  power,  but 


3&4 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


by  My  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord."  A  lamp  gives  light  not 
because  the  gold  shines,  but  because  the  oil  burns ; 
and  yet  the  oil  is  the  one  thing  which  the  eye  sees  not. 
And  so  the  Church  is  a  witness  for  her  Lord,  a  light 
shining  in  a  dark  place,  not  because  of  its  learning  or 
culture,  its  noble  ritual,  its  stately  buildings  or  its 
ample  revenues.  All  these  things  her  children,  having 
fhe  power,  ought  to  dedicate.  The  ancient  symbol  put 
art  and  preciousness  in  an  honourable  place,  worthily 
upholding  the  lamp  itself;  and  in  the  New  Testament 
the  seven  lamps  of  the  Apocalypse  were  still  of  gold. 
But  the  true  function  of  a  lamp  is  to  be  luminous,  and 
for  this  the  Church  depends  wholly  upon  its  supply  of 
grace  from  God  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  is  a  not  by  might, 
nor  by  power,  but  by  My  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord." 

Again,  in  the  Revelation,  we  find  the  New  Testament 
Churches  described  as  lamps,  among  which  their  Lord 
habitually  walks.  And  no  sooner  have  the  seven 
churches  on  earth  been  warned  and  cheered,  than  we 
are  shown  before  the  throne  of  God  seven  torches 
(burning  by  their  own  incandescence — vide  Trench, 
N.  T.  Synonyms,  p.  162),  which  are  the  seven  spirits  of 
God,  answering  to  His  seven  light-bearers  upon  the 
earth  (Rev.  iv.  5). 

Lastly,  the  perfect  and  mystic  number,  seven,  declares 
that  the  light  of  the  Church,  shining  in  a  dark  place, 
ought  to  be  full  and  clear,  no  imperfect  presentation  of 
the  truth  :  “  they  shall  light  the  lamps,  to  give  light 
over  against  it." 

Because  this  lamp  shines  with  the  light  of  the 
Church,  exhibiting  the  graces  of  her  Lord,  therefore 
a  special  command  is  addressed  to  the  people,  besides 
the  call  for  contributions  to  the  work  in  general,  that 
they  shall  bring  pure  olive  oil,  not  obtained  by  heat 


xxv.  1-40.]  THE  SHRINE  AND  ITS  FURNITURE.  3S5 


and  pressure,  but  simply  beaten,  and  therefore  of  the 
best  quality,  to  feed  its  flame. 

It  is  to  burn,  as  the  Church  ought  to  shine  in  all 
darkness  of  the  conscience  or  the  heart  of  man,  from 
evening  to  morning  for  ever.  And  the  care  of  the 
ministers  of  God  is  to  be  the  continual  tending  of  this 
blessed  and  sacred  flame. 

THE  PATTERN  IN  THE  MOUNT. 
xxv.  9,  40. 

Twice  over  (vers.  9,  40,  and  cf.  xxvi.  30,  xxvii.  8,  etc.) 
Moses  was  reminded  to  be  careful  to  make  all  things 
after  the  pattern  shown  him  in  the  mount.  And  these 
words  have  sometimes  been  so  strained  as  to  convey 
the  meaning  that  there  really  exists  in  heaven  a 
tabernacle  and  its  furniture,  the  grand  original  from 
which  the  Mosaic  copy  was  derived. 

That  is  plainly  not  what  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
understands  (Heb.  viii.  5).  For  it  urges  this  admoni¬ 
tion  as  a  proof  that  the  old  dispensation  was  a  shadow 
of  ours,  in  which  Christ  enters  into  heaven  itself,  and 
our  consciences  are  cleansed  from  dead  works  to  serve 
the  living  God.  The  citation  is  bound  indissolubly 
with  all  the  demonstration  which  follows  it. 

We  are  not,  then,  to  think  of  a  heavenly  tabernacle, 
exhibited  to  the  material  senses  of  Moses,  with  which 
all  the  details  of  his  owrn  work  must  be  identical. 

Rather  wre  are  to  conceive  of  an  inspiration,  an 
ideal,  a  vision  of  spiritual  truths,  to  which  all  this  work 
in  gold  and  acacia-wood  should  correspond.  It  W'as 
thus  that  Socrates  told  Glaucon,  incredulous  of  his 
republic,  that  in  heaven  there  is  laid  up  a  pattern,  for 
him  that  wishes  to  behold  it.  Nothing  short  of  this 

25 


3S6 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


would  satisfy  the  inspired  application  of  the  words  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  where  the  readers,  who 
were  Jewish  converts,  are  asked  to  recognise  in  this 
verse  evidence  that  the  light  of  the  new  dispensation 
illuminated  the  institutions  of  the  old. 

Without  this  pervading  sentiment,  the  most  elaborate 
specifications  of  weight  and  measurement,  of  cup  and 
pomegranate  and  flower,  could  never  have  produced 
the  required  effect.  An  ideal  there  was,  a  divinely 
designed  suggestiveness,  which  must  be  always  present 
to  his  superintending  vigilance,  as  once  it  shone  upon 
his  soul  in  sacred  vision  or  trance ;  a  suggestiveness 
which  might  possibly  be  lost  amid  correct  elaborations, 
like  the  soul  of  a  poem  or  a  song,  evaporating  through 
a  rendering  which  is  correct  enough,  yet  in  which  the 
spirit,  even  if  that  alone,  has  been  forgotten. 

It  is  surely  a  striking  thing  to  find  this  need  of  a 
pervading  sentiment  impressed  upon  the  author  of  the 
first  piece  of  religious  art  that  ever  was  recognised  by 
heaven. 

For  it  is  the  mysterious  all-pervading  charm  of  such 
a  dominant  sentiment  w'hich  marks  the  impassable 
difference  between  the  lowliest  work  of  art,  and  the 
highest  piece  of  art-manufacture  which  is  only  a  manu¬ 
factured  article. 

And  assuredly  the  recognition  of  this  principle  among 
a  people  whose  ancient  history  shows  but  little  interest 
in  art,  calls  for  some  attention  from  those  who  regard 
the  tabernacle  itself  as  a  fiction,  and  its  details  as 
elaborated  in  Babylonia,  in  the  priestly  interest. 
(Kuenen,  Relig.  of  Israel,  ii.  14S). 

The  problem  of  problems  for  all  who  deny  the 
divinity  of  the  Old  Testament  is  to  explain  the  curious 
position  which  its  institutions  are  consistent  in  accept- 


xxv.  9,40.]  THE  PATTERN  IN  THE  MOUNT 


387 


ing.  They  rest  on  the  authority  of  heaven,  and  yet 
they  are  not  definitive,  but  provisional.  They  are 
always  looking  forward  to  another  prophet  like  their 
founder,  a  new  covenant  better  than  the  present  one, 
a  high  priest  after  the  order  of  a  Canaanite  enthroned 
at  the  right  hand  of  Jehovah,  a  consecration  for  every 
pot  in  the  city  like  that  of  the  vessels  in  the  temple 
(Deut.  xviii.  15  ;  Jer.  xxxi.  31  ;  Ps.  cx.  I,  4;  Zech.  xiv. 
20).  And  here,  “  in  the  priestly  interest,”  is  an  avowal 
that  the  Divine  habitation  which  they  boast  of  is  but 
the  likeness  and  shadow  of  some  Divine  reality  con¬ 
cealed.  And  these  strange  expectations  have  proved 
to  be  the  most  fruitful  and  energetic  principles  in  their 
religion. 

This  very  presence  of  the  ideal  is  what  will  for 
ever  make  the  highest  natures  quite  certain  that  the 
visible  universe  is  no  mere  resultant  of  clashing 
forces  without  a  soul,  but  the  genuine  work  of  a 
Creator.  The  universe  is  charged  throughout  with  the 
most  powerful  appeals  to  all  that  is  artistic  and  vital 
within  us  ;  so  that  a  cataract  is  more  than  water  falling 
noisily,  and  the  silence  of  midnight  more  than  the 
absence  of  disturbance,  and  a  snow  mountain  more 
than  a  storehouse  to  feed  the  torrents  in  summer,  being 
also  poems,  appeals,  revelations,  whispers  from  a  spirit, 
heard  in  the  depth  of  ours. 

Does  any  one,  listening  to  Beethoven’s  funeral  march, 
doubt  the  utterance  of  a  soul,  as  distinct  from  clanc- 

/  u 

ing  metal  and  vibrating  chords  ?  And  the  world  has 
in  it  this  mysterious  witness  to  something  more  than 
heat  and  cold,  moisture  and  drought :  something  which 
makes  the  difference  between  a  well-filled  granary  and 
a  field  of  grain  rippling  golden  in  the  breeze.  This  is 
not  a  coercive  argument  for  the  hostile  logic-monger : 


388 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


it  is  an  appeal  for  the  open  heart.  il  He  that  hath  ears 
to  hear,  let  him  hear.” 

To  fill  the  tabernacle  of  Moses  with  spiritual  mean¬ 
ing,  the  ideal  tabernacle  was  revealed  to  him  in  the 
Mount  of  God. 

Let  us  apply  the  same  principle  to  human  life. 
There  also  harmony  and  unity,  a  pervading  sense  of 
beauty  and  of  soul,  are  not  to  be  won  by  mere 
obedience  to  a  mandate  here  and  a  prohibition  there. 
Like  Moses,  it  is  not  by  labour  according  to  speci¬ 
fication  that  we  may  erect  a  shrine  for  deity.  Those 
parables  which  tell  of  obedient  toil  would  be  sadly 
defective,  therefore,  without  those  which  speak  of  love 
and  joy,  a  supper,  a  Shepherd  bearing  home  His 
sheep,  a  prodigal  whose  dull  expectation  of  hired 
service  is  changed  for  investiture  with  the  best  robe 
and  the  gold  ring,  and  welcome  of  dance  and  music. 

How  shall  our  lives  be  made  thus  harmonious,  a 
spiritual  poem  and  not  a  task,  a  chord  vibrating  under 
the  musician’s  hand  ?  How  shall  thought  and  word, 
desire  and  deed,  become  like  the  blended  voices  of  river 
and  wind  and  wrocd,  a  witness  for  the  divine?  Not  by 
mere  elaboration  of  detail  (though  correctness  is  a 
condition  of  all  true  art),  but  by  a  vision  before  us  of 
the  divine  life,  the  Ideal,  the  pattern  shown  to  all, 
and  equally  to  be  imitated  (strange  though  it  may 
seem)  by  peasant  and  prince,  by  woman  and  sage  and 
child. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


THE  TABERNACLE. 
xxvi. 

WE  now  come  to  examine  the  structure  of  the 
tabernacle  for  which  the  most  essential  furni¬ 
ture  has  been  prepared. 

Some  confusion  of  thought  exists,  even  among 
educated  laymen,  with  regard  to  the  arrangements  of 
the  temple ;  and  this  has  led  to  similar  confusion  (to  a 
less  extent)  concerning  the  corresponding  parts  of  the 
tabernacle  “The  temple"  in  which  the  Child  Jesus 
was  found,  and  into  which  Peter  and  John  went  up  to 
pray,  ought  not  to  be  confounded  with  that  inner  shrine, 
“  the  temple,”  in  which  it  was  the  lot  of  the  priest 
Zacharias  to  burn  incense,  and  into  which  Judas,  for¬ 
getful  of  all  its  sacredness  in  his  anguish,  hurled  his 
money  to  the  priests  (Luke  ii.  46 ;  Acts  iii.  3 ;  Luke 
i.  9;  Matt,  xxvii.  5).  Now,  the  former  of  these  corre¬ 
sponded  to  “  the  court  of  the  tabernacle,"  an  enclosure 
open  to  the  skies,  and  containing  two  important  articles, 
the  altar  of  burnt  sacrifices  and  the  laver.  This  was 
accessible  to  the  nation,  so  that  the  sinner  could  lay 
his  hand  upon  the  head  of  his  offering,  and  the  priests 
could  purify  themselves  before  entering  their  own  sacred 
place,  the  tabernacle  proper,  the  shrine.  But  when 
we  come  to  the  structure  itself,  some  attention  is  still 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


390 

necessary,  in  order  to  derive  any  clear  notion  from  the 
description ;  nor  can  this  easily  be  done  by  an  English 
reader  without  substituting  the  Revised  Version  for 
the  Authorised.  He  will  then  discover  that  we  have  a 
description,  first  of  the  “curtains  of  the  tabernacle” 
(vers.  1-6),  and  then  of  other  curtains  which  are  not 
considered  to  belong  to  the  tabernacle  proper,  but  to 
“the  tent  over  the  tabernacle”  (7-13),  being  no  part  of 
the  rich  ornamental  interior,  but  only  a  protection 
spread  above  it ;  and  over  this  again  were  two  further 
screens  from  the  weather  (14),  and  finally,  inside  all, 
are  “  the  boards  of  the  tabernacle  ” — of  which  boards 
the  two  actual  apartments  were  constructed  (15-30) — 
and  the  veil  which  divided  the  Holy  from  the  Most 
Holy  Place  (31-3). 

“The  curtains  of  the  tabernacle”  were  ten,  made  of 
linen,  of  which  every  thread  consisted  of  fine  strands 
twisted  together,  “and  blue  and  purple  and  scarlet,” 
with  cherubim  not  embroidered  but  woven  into  the 
fabric  (1). 

These  curtains  w7ere  sewn  together,  five  and  five, 
so  as  to  make  twro  great  curtains,  each  slightly  larger 
than  forty-two  feet  by  thirty,  being  twenty-eight  cubits 
long  by  five  times  four  cubits  broad  (2,  3).  Finally 
these  two  were  linked  together,  each  having  fifty  loops 
for  that  purpose  at  corresponding  places  at  the  edge, 
which  loops  were  bound  together  by  fifty  golden  clasps 
(4-6).  Thus,  when  the  nation  was  about  to  march, 
they  could  easily  be  divided  in  the  middle  and  then 
folded  in  the  seams. 

This  costly  fabric  was  regarded  as  part  of  the  true 
tabernacle:  why,  then,  do  we  find  the  outer  curtains 
mentioned  before  the  rest  of  the  tabernacle  proper  is 
described  ? 


xxvi.] 


TIIE  TABER  XA  CLE. 


391 


Certainly  because  these  rich  curtains  lie  immediately 
underneath  the  coarser  ones,  and  are  to  be  considered 
along  with  “the  tent”  which  covered  all  (7).  This 
consisted  of  curtains  of  goats'  hair,  of  the  same  size, 
and  arranged  in  all  respects  like  the  others,  except  that 
their  clasps  were  only  bronze,  and  that  the  curtains 
were  eleven  in  number,  instead  of  ten,  so  that  half  a 
curtain  was  available  to  hang  down  over  the  back,  and 
half  was  to  be  doubled  back  upon  itself  at  the  front 
of  “  the  tabernacle,”  that  is  to  say,  the  richer  curtains 
underneath.  The  object  of  this  is  obvious :  it  was 
to  bring  the  centre  of  the  goatskin  curtains  over  the 
edge  of  the  linen  ones,  as  tiles  overlap  each  other,  to 
shut  out  the  rain  at  the  joints.  But  this  implies, 
what  has  been  said  already,  that  the  curtains  of  the 
tabernacle  should  lie  close  to  the  curtains  of  the  tent. 

Over  these  again  was  an  outer  covering  of  rams' 
skins  dyed  red,  and  a  covering  of  sealskins  above  all 
(14).  This  last,  it  is  generally  agreed,  ran  only  along 
the  top,  like  a  ridge  tile,  to  protect  the  vulnerable  part 
of  the  roof.  And  now  it  has  to  be  remembered  that 
we  are  speaking  of  a  real  tent  with  sloping  sides,  not  a 
flat  cover  laid  upon  the  flat  inner  structure  of  boards, 
and  certain  to  admit  the  rain.  By  calling  attention  to 
this  fact,  Mr.  Fergusson  succeeded  in  solving  all  the 
problems  connected  with  the  measurements  of  the  taber¬ 
nacle,  and  bringing  order  into  what  was  little  more 
than  chaos  before  ( Smith's  Bible  Diet,  “Temple”). 

The  inner  tabernacle  was  of  acacia  wood,  which  was 
the  only  timber  of  the  sanctuary.  Each  board  stood 
ten  cubits  high,  and  was  fitted  by  tenons  into  tw7o  silver 
sockets,  which  probably  formed  a  continuous  base. 
Each  of  these  contained  a  talent  of  silver,  and  was 
therefore  more  than  eighty  pounds  weight ;  and  they 


392 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


were  probably  to  some  extent  sunk  into  the  ground  for 
a  foundation  (xxxviii.  27).  There  were  twenty  boards 
on  each  side  ;  and  as  they  were  a  cubit  and  a  half 
broad,  the  length  of  the  tabernacle  was  about  forty-five 
feet  (16-18).  At  the  west  end  there  were  six  boards 
(22),  which,  with  the  breadth  of  the  two  posts  or  boards 
for  the  corners  (23-4)  just  gives  ten  cubits,  or  fifteen 
feet,  for  the  width  of  it.  Thus  the  length  of  the 
tabernacle  was  three  times  its  breadth  ;  and  we  know 
that  in  the  Temple  (where  all  the  proportions  were 
the  same,  the  figures  being  doubled  throughout)  the 
subdividing  veil  was  so  hung  as  to  make  the  inner 
shrine  a  perfect  square,  leaving  the  holy  place  twice  as 
long  as  it  was  broad. 

The  posts  were  held  in  their  places  by  wooden  bars, 
which  were  overlaid  with  gold  (as  the  boards  also  were, 
ver.  29)  and  fitted  into  golden  rings.  Four  such  bars, 
or  bolts,  ran  along  a  portion  of  each  side,  and  there  was 
a  fifth  great  bar  which  stretched  along  the  whole  forty- 
five  feet  from  end  to  end.  Thus  the  edifice  was  firmly 
held  together  ;  and  the  wealth  of  the  material  makes  it 
likely  that  they  were  fixed  on  the  inside,  and  formed  a 
part  of  the  ornament  of  the  edifice  (26-9). 

When  the  two  curtains  were  fastened  together  with 
clasps,  they  gave  a  length  of  sixty  feet.  But  we  have 
seen  that  the  length  of  the  boards  when  jointed  to¬ 
gether  was  only  forty-five  feet.  This  gives  a  projection 
of  seven  feet  and  a  half  (five  cubits)  for  the  front  and 
rear  of  the  tent  beyond  the  tabernacle  of  boards ;  and 
when  the  great  curtains  were  drawn  tight,  sloping  from 
the  ridge-pole  fourteen  cubits  on  each  side,  it  has  been 
shown  (assuming  a  right-angle  at  the  top)  that  they 
reached  within  five  cubits  of  the  ground,  and  extended 
five  cubits  beyond  the  sides,  the  same  distance  as  at 


xxvi.] 


THE  TABERNACLE. 


393 


the  front  and  rear.  The  next  instructions  concern 
the  veil  which  divided  the  two  chambers  of  the 
sanctuary.  This  was  in  all  respects  like  11  the  curtain 
of  the  tabernacle/’  and  similarly  woven  with  cherubim. 
It  was  hung  upon  four  pillars ;  and  the  even  number 
seems  to  prove  that  there  was  no  higher  one  in  the 
centre,  reaching  to  the  roof — which  seems  to  imply 
that  there  was  a  triangular  opening  above  the  veil, 
between  the  Holy  and  the  Most  Holy  Place  (31,  32). 

But  here  a  difficult  question  arises.  There  is  no 
specific  measurement  of  the  point  at  which  this  sub¬ 
dividing  veil  was  to  stretch  across  the  tent.  The 
analogy  of  the  Temple  inclines  us  to  believe  that  the 
Most  Holy  Place  was  a  perfect  cube,  and  the  Holy 
Place  twice  as  long  as  it  was  broad  and  high.  There 
is  evident  allusion  to  this  final  shape  of  the  Most  Holy 
Place  in  the  description  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  of 
which  the  length  and  breadth  and  height  were  equal. 
And  yet  there  is  strong  reason  to  suspect  that  this 
arrangement  was  not  the  primitive  one.  For  Moses  was 
ordered  to  stretch  the  veil  underneath  the  golden  clasps 
which  bound  together  the  two  great  curtains  of  the 
tabernacle  (ver.  33).  But  these  were  certainly  in  the 
middle.  How,  then,  could  the  veil  make  an  unequal 
division  below  ?  Possibly  fifteen  feet  square  would 
have  been  too  mean  a  space  for  the  dimensions  of  the 
Most  Holy  Place,  although  the  perfect  cube  became 
desirable,  when  the  size  was  doubled. 

A  screen  of  the  same  rich  material,  but  apparently 
not  embroidered  with  cherubim,  was  to  stretch  across 
the  door  of  the  tent ;  but  this  was  supported  on  five 
pillars  instead  of  four,  clearly  that  the  central  one 
might  support  the  ridge-bar  of  the  roof.  And  their 
sockets  were  of  brass  (vers.  36,  37). 


394 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS, 


The  tabernacle,  like  the  Temple,  had  its  entrance  on 
the  east  (ver.  22) ;  and  in  the  case  of  the  Temple  this 
was  the  more  remarkable,  because  the  city  lay  at  the 
other  side,  and  the  worshippers  had  to  pass  round 
the  shrine  before  they  reached  the  front  of  it.  The 
object  was  apparently  to  catch  the  warmth  of  the 
sun.  For  a  somewhat  similar  reason,  every  pagan 
temple  in  the  ancient  world,  with  a  few  well-defined 
exceptions  which  are  easily  explained,  also  faced  the 
east;  and  the  worshippers,  with  their  backs  to  the 
dawn,  saw  the  first  beams  of  the  sun  kindling  their 
idol's  face.  The  orientation  of  Christian  churches  is 
due  to  the  custom  which  made  the  neophyte,  standing 
at  first  in  his  familiar  position  westward,  renounce  the 
devil  and  all  his  works,  and  then,  turning  his  back 
upon  his  idols,  recite  the  creed  with  his  face  eastward. 

What  ideas  would  be  suggested  by  this  edifice  to 
the  worshipper  will  better  be  examined  when  we  have 
examined  also  the  external  court. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


THE  OUTER  COURT . 


xxvii. 

BEFORE  describing  the  tabernacle,  its  furniture 
was  specified.  And  so,  when  giving  instructions 
for  the  court  of  the  tabernacle,  the  altar  has  to  be 
described  :  “  Thou  shalt  make  the  altar  of  acacia  wood.” 
The  definite  article  either  implies  that  an  altar  was 
taken  for  granted,  a  thing  of  course ;  or  else  it  points 
back  to  chap.  xx.  24,  which  said  “An  altar  of  earth 
shalt  thou  make.”  Nor  is  the  acacia  wood  of  this  altar 
at  all  inconsistent  with  that  precept,  it  being  really  not 
an  altar  but  an  altar-case,  and  “  hollow  ”  (ver.  8) — an 
arrangement  for  holding  the  earth  together,  and  pre¬ 
venting  the  feet  of  the  priests  from  desecrating  it. 
At  each  corner  was  a  horn,  of  one  piece  with  the 
framework,  typical  of  the  power  which  was  there 
invoked,  and  practically  useful,  both  to  bind  the 
sacrifice  with  cords,  and  also  for  the  grasp  of  the 
fugitive,  seeking  sanctuary  (Ps.  cxviii.  27 ;  I  Kings 
i.  50)*  This  arrangement  is  said  to  have  been  peculiar 
to  Judaism.  And  as  the  altar  was  outside  the  taber¬ 
nacle,  and  both  symbolism  and  art  prescribed  simpler 
materials,  it  was  overlaid  with  brass  (vers.  I,  2).  Of 
the  same  material  were  the  vessels  necessary  for  the 
treatment  of  the  fire  and  blood  (ver.  3).  A  network 


396 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


of  brass  protected  the  lower  part  of  the  altar ;  and 
at  half  the  height  a  ledge  projected,  supported  by  this 
network,  and  probably  wide  enough  to  allow  the  priests 
to  stand  upon  it  when  they  ministered  (vers.  4,  5). 
Hence  we  read  that  Aaron  “came  down  from  offering ” 
(Lev.  ix.  22).  Lastly,  there  was  the  same  arrangement 
of  rings  and  staves  to  carry  it  as  for  the  ark  and  the 
table  (vers.  6,  7). 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  laver  in  this  court,  like 
the  altar  of  incense  within,  is  reserved  for  mention  in 
a  later  chapter  (xxx.  18)  as  being  a  subordinate  feature 
in  the  arrangements. 

The  enclosure  was  a  quadrangle  of  one  hundred 
cubits  by  fifty;  it  was  five  cubits  high,  and  each  cubit 
may  be  taken  as  a  foot  and  a  half.  The  linen  which 
enclosed  it  was  upheld  by  pillars  with  sockets  of 
brass ;  and  one  of  the  few  additional  facts  to  be 
gleaned  from  the  detailed  statement  that  all  these 
directions  were  accurately  carried  out  is  that  the  heads 
of  all  the  pillars  were  overlaid  with  silver  (xxxviii.  17). 
The  pillars  were  connected  by  rods  (fillets)  of  silver, 
and  a  hanging  of  fine-twined  linen  was  stretched  by 
means  of  silver  hooks  (9-13).  The  entrance  was 
twenty  cubits  wide,  corresponding  accurately  to  the 
width,  not  of  the  tabernacle,  but  of  “  the  tent  ”  as  it 
has  been  described  (reaching  out  five  cubits  farther 
on  each  side  than  the  tabernacle),  and  it  was  closed 
by  an  embroidered  curtain  (14-17).  This  fence  was 
drawn  firmly  into  position  and  held  there  by  brazen 
tent-pins ;  and  we  here  incidentally  learn  that  so  was 
the  tent  itself  (19). 

[For  verses  20,  21,  see  page  423.] 

We  are  now  in  a  position  to  ask  what  sentiment  all 


icxvii.] 


THE  OUTER  COURT 


397 


these  arrangements  would  inspire  in  the  mind  of  the 
simple  and  somewhat  superstitious  worshippers. 

Approaching  it  from  outside,  the  linen  enclosure 
(being  seven  feet  and  a  half  high)  would  conceal  every¬ 
thing  but  the  great  roof  of  the  tent,  one  uniform  red, 
except  for  the  sealskin  covering  along  the  summit. 
A  gloomy  and  menacing  prospect,  broken  possibly  by 
some  gleams,  if  the  curtain  of  the  gable  were  drawn 
back,  from  the  gold  with  which  every  portion  of  the 
shrine  within  was  plated. 

So  does  the  world  outside  look  askance  upon  the 
Church,  discerning  a  mysterious  suggestion  everywhere 
of  sternness  and  awe,  yet  with  flashes  of  strange 
splendour  and  affluence  underneath  the  gloom. 

In  this  place  God  is  known  to  be  :  it  is  a  tent,  not 
really  u  of  the  congregation,”  but  “  of  meeting  ”  between 
Jehovah  and  His  people  :  “the  tent  of  meeting  before 
the  Lord,  where  I  will  meet  with  you,  .  .  .  and  there 
I  will  meet  with  the  children  of  Israel  ”  (xxix.  42-3)- 
And  so  the  Israelite,  though  troubled  by  sin  and  fear, 
is  attracted  to  the  gate,  and  enters.  Right  in  front 
stands  the  altar :  this  obtrudes  itself  before  all  else 
upon  his  attention  :  he  must  learn  its  lesson  first  of  all. 
Especially  will  he  feel  that  this  is  so  if  a  sacrifice  is 
now  to  be  offered,  since  the  official  must  go  farther 
into  the  court  to  wash  at  the  laver,  and  then  return ;  so 
that  a  loss  of  graduated  arrangement  has  been  accepted 
in  order  to  force  the  altar  to  the  front.  And  he  will 
soon  learn  that  not  only  must  every  approach  to  the 
sacred  things  within  be  heralded  by  sacrifice  upon 
this  altar,  but  the  blood  of  the  victim  must  be  carried 
as  a  passport  into  the  shrine.  Surely  he  remembers 
how  the  blood  of  the  lamb  saved  his  own  life  when 
the  firstborn  of  Egypt  died :  he  knows  that  it  is 


393 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


written  u  The  life  (or  soul)  of  the  flesh  is  in  the  blood  * 
and  I  have  given  it  to  you  upon  the  altar  to  make 
atonement  for  your  souls  (or  lives) :  for  it  is  the  blood 
that  maketh  atonement  by  reason  of  the  life  (or  soul)’' 
(Lev.  xvii.  n). 

No  Hebrew  could  watch  his  fellow-sinner  lay  his 
hand  on  a  victim’s  head,  and  confess  his  sin  before 
the  blow  fell  on  it,  without  feeling  that  sin  was  being,  in 
some  mysterious  sense,  “  borne  ”  for  him.  The  intric¬ 
acies  of  our  modern  theology  would  not  disturb  him, 
but  this  is  the  sentiment  by  which  the  institutions  of 
the  tabernacle  assuredly  ministered  comfort  and  hope 
to  him.  Strong  would  be  his  hope  as  he  remembered 
that  the  service  and  its  solace  were  not  of  human 
devising,  that  God  had  “  given  it  to  him  upon  the  altar 
to  make  atonement  for  his  soul.” 

Taking  courage,  therefore,  the  worshipper  dares  to 
lift  up  his  eyes.  And  beyond  the  altar  he  sees  a  vision 
of  dazzling  magnificence.  The  inner  roof,  most  unlike 
the  sullen  red  of  the  exterior,  is  blazing  with  various 
colours,  and  embroidered  with  emblems  of  the  mys¬ 
terious  creatures  of  the  sky,  winged,  yet  not  utterly  afar 
from  human  in  their  suggestiveness.  Encompassed 
and  looked  down  into  by  these  is  the  tabernacle,  all  of 
gold.  If  the  curtain  is  raised  he  sees  a  chamber  which 
tells  what  the  earth  should  be — a  place  of  consecrated 
energies  and  resources,  and  of  sacred  illumination,  the 
oil  of  God  burning  in  the  sevenfold  vessel  of  the  Church. 
Is  this  blessed  place  for  him,  and  may  he  enter  ?  Ah, 
no !  and  surely  his  heart  would  grow  heavy  with  con¬ 
sciousness  that  reconciliation  was  not  yet  made  perfect, 
when  he  learned  that  he  must  never  approach  the  place 
where  God  had  promised  to  meet  with  him. 

Much  less  might  he  penetrate  the  awful  chamber 


xxvii.] 


THE  OUTER  COURT. 


399 


within,  the  true  home  of  deity.  There,  he  knows,  is 
the  record  of  the  mind  of  God,  the  concentrated  ex¬ 
pression  of  what  is  comparatively  easy  to  obey  in 
act,  but  difficult  beyond  hope  to  love,  to  accept  and 
to  be  conformed  to.  That  record  is  therefore  at  once 
the  revelation  of  God  and  the  condemnation  of  His 
creature.  Yet  over  this,  he  knows  well,  there  is  poised 
no  dead  image  such  as  were  then  adored  in  Babylonian 
and  Egyptian  fanes,  but  a  spiritual  Presence,  the  glory 
of  the  invisible  God.  Nor  was  He  to  be  thought  of  as 
in  solitude,  loveless,  or  else  needing  human  love:  above 
Him  were  the  woven  seraphim  of  the  curtain,  and  on 
either  side  a  seraph  of  beaten  gold — types,  it  may 
be,  of  all  the  created  life  which  He  inhabits,  or  else 
pictures  of  His  sinless  creatures  of  the  upper  world. 
And  yet  this  pure  Being,  to  Whom  the  companionship 
of  sinful  man  is  so  little  needed,  is  there  to  meet  with 
man ;  and  is  pleased  not  to  look  upon  His  violated 
law,  but  to  command  that  a  slab,  inestimably  precious, 
shall  interpose  between  it  and  its  Avenger.  By  whom, 
then,  shall  this  most  holy  floor  be  trodden  ?  By  the 
official  representative  of  him  who  gazes,  and  longs,  and 
is  excluded.  He  enters  not  without  blood,  which  he 
is  careful  to  sprinkle  upon  all  the  furniture,  but  chiefly 
and  seven  times  upon  the  mercy-seat. 

Thus  every  worshipper  carries  away  a  profound 
consciousness  that  he  is  utterly  unworthy,  and  yet 
that  his  unworthiness  has  been  expiated  ;  that  he  is 
excluded,  and  yet  that  his  priest,  his  representative,  has 
been  admitted,  and  therefore  that  he  may  hope.  The 
Holy  Ghost  did  not  declare  by  sign  that  no  way  into 
the  Holiest  existed,  but  only  that  it  was  not  yet  made 
manifest.  Not  yet. 

This  leads  us  to  think  of  the  priest. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 


“THE  HOLY  GARMENTS." 


XXVI 11, 


HE  tabernacle  being  complete,  the  priesthood  has 


JL  to  be  provided  for.  Its  dignity  is  intimated  by 
the  command  to  Moses  to  bring  his  brother  Aaron  and 
his  sons  near  to  himself  (clearly  in  rank,  because  the 
object  is  defined,  “  that  he  may  minister  unto  Me  ”), 
and  also  by  the  direction  to  make  “  holy  garments  for 
glory  and  for  beauty.”  But  just  as  the  furniture  is 
treated  before  the  shrine,  and  again  before  the  court¬ 
yard,  so  the  vestments  are  provided  before  the  priest¬ 
hood  is  itself  discussed. 

The  holiness  of  the  raiment  implies  that  separation 
to  office  can  be  expressed  by  official  robes  in  the 
Church  as  well  as  in  the  state;  and  their  glory  and 
beauty  show  that  God,  Who  has  clothed  His  creation 
with  splendour  and  with  loveliness,  does  not  dissever 
religious  feeling  from  artistic  expression. 

All  that  are  wise-hearted  in  such  work,  being  inspired 
by  God  as  really,  though  not  as  profoundly,  as  if  their 
task  were  to  foretell  the  advent  of  Messiah,  are  to 
unite  their  labours  upon  these  garments. 

The  order  in  the  twenty-eighth  chapter  is  perhaps 
that  of  their  visible  importance.  But  it  will  be  clearer 
to  describe  them  in  the  order  in  which  they  were  put  on. 


xxviii.] 


“  THE  HOLY  GARMENTS .” 


401 


Next  the  flesh  all  the  priests  were  clad  from  the 
loins  to  the  thighs  in  close-fitting  linen  :  the  indecency 
of  many  pagan  rituals  must  be  far  from  them,  and  this 
was  a  perpetual  ordinance,  “  that  they  bear  not  iniquity 
and  die  ”  (xxviii.  42-3). 

Over  this  was  a  tight-fitting  “coat”  (a  shirt  rather) 
of  fine  linen,  white,  but  woven  in  a  chequered  pattern, 
without  seam,  like  the  robe  of  Jesus,  and  bound  together 
with  a  girdle  (39-43). 

These  garments  were  common  to  all  the  priests ;  but 
their  “head-tires”  differed  from  the  impressive  mitre 
of  the  high  priest.  The  rest  of  the  vestments  in  this 
chapter  belong  to  him  alone. 

Over  the  “coat”  he  wore  the  flowing  “robe  of  the 
ephod,”  all  blue,  little  seen  from  the  waist  up,  but 
uncovered  thence  to  the  feet,  and  surrounded  at  the 
hem  with  golden  pomegranates,  the  emblem  of  fruit¬ 
fulness,  and  with  bells  to  enable  the  worshippers  out¬ 
side  to  follow  the  movements  of  their  representative. 
He  should  die  if  this  expression  of  his  vicarious 
function  were  neglected  (31-35)* 

Above  this  robe  was  the  ephod  itself — a  kind  of 
gorgeous  jacket,  made  in  two  pieces  which  were  joined 
at  the  shoulders,  and  bound  together  at  the  waist  by  a 
cunningly  woven  band,  which  was  of  the  same  piece. 
This  ephod,  like  the  curtains  of  the  tabernacle,  was  of 
blue  and  purple  and  scarlet  and  fine-twined  linen  ;  but 
added  to  these  were  threads  of  gold,  and  we  read,  as  if 
this  were  a  novelty  which  needed  to  be  explained,  that 
they  beat  the  gold  into  thin  plates  and  then  cut  it  into 
threads  (xxxix.  3,  xxviii.  6-8). 

Upon  the  shoulders  were  two  stones,  rightly  perhaps 
called  onyx,  and  set  in  “  ouches  ” — of  filagree  work,  as 
the  word  seems  to  say.  Upon  them  were  engraven 

26 


402 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


the  names  of  the  twelve  tribes,  the  burden  of  whose 
sins  and  sorrows  he  should  bear  into  the  presence  of 
his  God,  "  for  a  memorial  ”  (9-12). 

Upon  the  ephod  was  the  breastplate,  fastened  to  it 
by  rings  and  chains  of  twisted  gold,  made  to  fold  over 
into  a  square,  a  span  in  measurement,  and  blazing 
with  twelve  gems,  upon  which  were  engraved,  as  upon 
the  onyxes  on  the  shoulders,  the  names  of  the  twelve 
tribes.  All  attempts  to  derive  edification  from  the 
nature  of  these  jewels  must  be  governed  by  the 
commonplace  reflection  that  we  cannot  identify  them ; 
and  many  of  the  present  names  are  incorrect.  It  is 
almost  certain  that  neither  topaz,  sapphire  nor  diamond 
could  have  been  engraved,  as  these  stones  were,  with 
the  name  of  one  of  the  twelve  tribes  (13-30). 

“  In  the  breastplate  M  (that  is,  evidently,  between  the 
folds  as  it  was  doubled),  were  placed  those  mysterious 
means  of  ascertaining  the  will  of  God,  the  Urim  and 
the  Thummim,  the  Lights  and  the  Perfections ;  but  of 
their  nature,  or  of  the  manner  in  which  they  became 
significant,  nothing  can  be  said  that  is  not  pure  con¬ 
jecture  (30). 

Lastly,  there  was  a  mitre  of  white  linen,  and  upon  it 
was  laced  with  blue  cords  a  gold  plate  bearing  the 
inscription  “  Holy  to  Jehovah”  (36,  37). 

No  mention  is  made  of  shoes  or  sandals;  and  both 
from  the  commandment  to  Moses  at  the  burning  bush, 
and  from  history,  it  is  certain  that  the  priests  officiated 
with  their  feet  bare. 

The  picture  thus  completed  has  the  clearest  ethical 
significance.  There  is  modesty,  reverence,  purity, 
innocence  typified  by  whiteness,  the  grandeur  of  the 
office  of  intercession  displayed  in  the  rich  colours  and 
precious  jewels  by  which  that  whiteness  was  relieved, 


THE  PRIESTHOOD . 


403 


xxviii.] 


sympathy  expressed  by  the  names  of  the  people  in  the 
breastplate  that  heaved  with  every  throb,  of  hi?  heart, 
responsibility  confessed  by  the  same  names  upon  the 
shoulder,  where  the  government  was  said  to  press  like 
a  load  (Isa.  ix.  6) ;  and  over  all,  at  once  the  condition 
and  the  explanation  of  the  rest,  upon  the  seat  of 
intelligence  itself,  the  golden  inscription  on  the  fore¬ 
head,  “  Holy  to  Jehovah.” 

Such  was  the  import  of  the  raiment  of  the  high 
priest:  let  us  see  how  it  agrees  with  the  nature  of 
his  office. 

THE  PRIESTHOOD . 

What,  then,  are  the  central  ideas  connected  with 
the  institution  of  a  priesthood  ? 

Regarding  it  in  the  broadest  way,  and  as  a  purely 
human  institution,  we  may  trace  it  back  to  the  eternal 
conflict  in  the  breast  of  man  between  two  mighty 
tendencies — the  thirst  for  God  and  the  dread  of  Him, 
a  strong  instinct  of  approach  and  a  repelling  sense  of 
unworthiness. 

In  every  age  and  climate,  man  prays.  If  any 
curious  inquirer  into  savage  habits  can  point  to  the 
doubtful  exception  of  a  tribe  seemingly  without  a  ritual, 
he  will  not  really  show  that  religion  is  one  with  super¬ 
stition  ;  for  they  who  are  said  to  have  escaped  its 
grasp  are  never  the  most  advanced  and  civilised  among 
their  fellows  upon  that  account, — they  are  the  most 
savage  and  debased,  they  are  to  humanity  what  the 
only  people  which  has  formally  renounced  God  is  fast 
becoming  among  the  European  races. 

Certainly  history  cannot  exhibit  one  community, 
progressive,  energetic  and  civilised,  which  did  not  fee] 
that  more  was  needful  and  might  be  had  than  its  own 


404 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


resources  could  supply,  and  stretch  aloft  to  a  Supreme 
Being  the  hands  which  were  so  deft  to  handle  the 
weapon  and  the  tool.  Certainly  all  experience  proves 
that  the  foundations  of  national  greatness  are  laid  in 
national  piety,  so  that  the  practical  result  of  worship, 
and  of  the  belief  that  God  responds,  has  not  been  to 
dull  the  energies  of  man,  but  to  inspire  him  with  the 
self-respect  befitting  a  confidant  of  deity,  and  to  brace 
him  for  labours  worthy  of  one  who  draws,  from  the 
sense  of  Divine  favour,  the  hope  of  an  infinite  advance. 

And  yet,  side  by  side  with  this  spiritual  gravitation, 
there  has  always  been  recoil  and  dread,  such  as  was 
expressed  when  Moses  hid  his  face  because  he  w7as 
afraid  to  look  upon  God. 

Now,  it  is  not  this  apprehension,  taken  alone,  which 
proves  man  to  be  a  fallen  creature :  it  is  the  combina¬ 
tion  of  the  dread  of  God  with  the  desire  of  Him.  Why 
should  we  shrink  from  our  supreme  Good,  except  as  a 
sick  man  turns  away  from  his  natural  food  ?  He  is  in 
an  unnatural  and  morbid  state  of  body,  and  w*e  of  soul. 

Thus  divided  between  fear  and  attraction,  man  has 
fallen  upon  the  device  of  commissioning  some  one  to 
represent  him  before  God.  The  priest  on  earth  has 
come  by  the  same  road  with  so  many  other  mediators — 
angel  and  demigod,  saint  and  virgin. 

At  first  it  has  been  the  secular  chief  of  the  family, 
tribe  or  nation,  who  has  seemed  least  unworthy  to 
negotiate  as  well  with  heaven  as  with  centres  of  interest 
upon  earth.  But  by  degrees  the  duty  has  everywhere 
been  transferred  into  professional  hands,  patriarch  and 
king  recoiling,  feeling  the  inconsistency  of  his  earthly 
duties  with  these  sacred  ones,  finding  his  hands  to  be 
too  soiled  and  his  heart  too  heavily  weighted  with  sin 
for  the  tremendous  Presence  into  which  the  family  or 


xxviii.l 


THE  PRIESTHOOD. 


405 


the  tribe  would  press  him.  And  yet  the  union  of  the 
two  functions  might  be  the  ideal ;  and  the  sigh  of  all 
truly  enlightened  hearts  might  be  for  a  priest  sitting 
upon  his  throne,  a  priest  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek. 
But  thus  it  came  to  pass  that  an  official,  a  clique, 
perhaps  a  family,  was  chosen  from  among  men  in 
things  pertaining  to  God,  and  the  institution  of  the 
priesthood  was  perfected. 

Now,  this  is  the  very  process  which  is  recognised  in 
Scripture;  for  these  two  conflicting  forces  were  alto¬ 
gether  sound  and  right.  Man  ought  to  desire  God,  for 
Whom  he  was  created,  and  Whose  voice  in  the  garden 
was  once  so  welcome  :  but  also  he  ought  to  shrink 
back  from  Him,  afraid  now,  because  he  is  conscious 
of  his  own  nakedness,  because  he  has  eaten  of  the 
forbidden  fruit. 

Accordingly,  as  the  nation  is  led  out  from  Egypt,  we 
find  that  its  intercourse  with  heaven  is  at  once  real 
and  indirect.  The  leader  is  virtually  the  priest  as  well, 
at  whose  intercession  Amalek  is  vanquished  and  the  sin 
of  the  golden  calf  is  pardoned,  who  entered  the  presence 
of  God  and  received  the  law  upon  their  behalf,  when 
they  feared  to  hear  His  voice  lest  they  should  die,  and 
by  whose  hand  the  blood  of  the  covenant  was  sprinkled 
upon  the  people,  when  they  had  sworn  to  obey  all  that 
the  Lord  had  said  (xvii.  II,  xxxii.  30,  xx.  19,  xxiv.  3). 

Soon,  however,  the  express  command  of  God  pro¬ 
vided  for  an  orthodox  and  edifying  transfer  of  the 
priestly  function  from  Moses  to  his  brother  Aaron. 
Some  such  division  of  duties  between  the  secular 
chief  and  the  religious  priest  would  no  doubt  have 
come,  in  Israel  as  elsewhere,  as  soon  as  Moses  dis¬ 
appeared  ;  but  it  might  have  come  after  a  very 
different  fashion,  associated  with  heresy  and  schism. 


406 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


Especially  would  it  have  been  demanded  why  the 
family  of  Moses,  if  the  chieftainship  must  pass  away 
from  it,  could  not  retain  the  religious  leadership.  We 
know  how  cogent  such  a  plea  would  have  appeared ; 
for,  although  the  transfer  was  made  publicly  and  by 
his  own  act,  yet  no  sooner  did  the  nation  begin  to 
split  into  tribal  subdivisions,  amid  the  confused  efforts  of 
each  to  conquer  its  own  share  of  the  inheritance,  than 
we  find  the  grandson  of  Moses  securely  establishing 
himself  and  his  posterity  in  the  apostate  and  semi- 
idolatrous  worship  of  Shechem  (Judg.  xviii.  30,  R.V.). 

And  why  should  not  this  illustrious  family  have 
been  chosen  ? 

Perhaps  because  it  was  so  illustrious.  A  priesthood 
of  that  great  line  might  seem  to  have  earned  its 
office,  and  to  claim  special  access  to  God,  like  the 
heathen  priests,  by  virtue  of  some  special  desert. 
Therefore  the  honour  was  transferred  to  the  far  less 
eminent  line  of  Aaron,  and  that  in  the  very  hour 
when  he  was  lending  his  help  to  the  first  great 
apostacy,  the  type  of  the  many  idolatries  into  which 
Israel  was  yet  to  fall.  So,  too,  the  whole  tribe  of 
Levi  was  in  some  sense  consecrated,  not  for  its  merit, 
but  because,  through  the  sin  of  its  founder,  it  lacked 
a  place  and  share  among  its  brethren,  being  divided 
in  Jacob  and  scattered  in  Israel  by  reason  of  the 
massacre  of  Shechem  (Gen.  xlix.  7). 

Thus  the  nation,  conscious  of  its  failure  to  enjoy 
intercourse  with  heaven,  found  an  authorised  expres¬ 
sion  for  its  various  and  conflicting  emotions.  It 
was  not  worthy  to  commune  with  God,  and  yet  it 
could  not  rest  without  Him.  Therefore  a  spokes¬ 
man,  a  representative,  an  ambassador,  was  given  to 
it.  But  lie  was  chosen  after  such  a  fashion  as  to 


xxviii.] 


THE  PRIESTHOOD. 


407 


shut  out  any  suspicion  that  the  merit  of  Levi  had 
prevailed  where  that  of  Israel  at  large  had  failed. 
It  was  not  because  Levi  executed  vengeance  on  the 
idolaters  that  he  was  chosen,  for  the  choice  was 
already  made,  and  made  in  the  person  of  Aaron,  who 
was  so  far  from  blameless  in  that  offence. 

And  perhaps  this  is  the  distinguishing  peculiarity 
of  the  Jewish  priest  among  others :  that  he  was  chosen 
from  among  his  brethren,  and  simply  as  one  of  them  ; 
so  that  while  his  office  was  a  proof  of  their  exclusion, 
it  was  also  a  kind  of  sacrament  of  their  future  admis¬ 
sion,  because  he  was  their  brother  and  their  envoy, 
and  entered  not  as  outshining  but  as  representing 
them,  their  forerunner  for  them  entering.  The  almond 
rod  of  Aaron  was  dry  and  barren  as  the  rout,  until 
the  miraculous  power  of  God  invested  it  with  blossoms 
and  fruit. 

Throughout  the  ritual,  the  utmost  care  was  taken 
to  inculcate  this  double  lesson  of  the  ministry.  Into 
the  Holy  Place,  whence  the  people  were  excluded,  a 
whole  family  could  enter.  But  there  was  an  inner 
shrine,  whither  only  the  high  priest  might  penetrate, 
thus  reducing  the  family  to  a  level  with  the  nation  ; 
“  the  Holy  Ghost  this  signifying,  that  the  way  into 
the  Holy  Place  hath  not  yet  been  made  manifest, 
v  hiie  as  the  first  tabernacle  (the  outer  shrine — ver.  6) 
was  yet  standing  ”  (Heb.  ix.  8). 

Thus  the  people  felt  a  deeper  awe,  a  broader 
separation.  And  yet,  when  the  sole  and  only  repre¬ 
sentative  who  wTas  left  to  them  entered  that  “  shrine, 
remote,  occult,  un trod,”  they  saw  that  the  way  was 
not  wholly  barred  against  human  footsteps :  the  lesson 
suggested  was  far  from  being  that  of  absolute  despair, 
— it  wras,  as  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  said,  ”  Not 


408 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


yet.”  The  prophet  Zechariah  foresaw  a  time  wh  n  the 
bells  of  the  horses  should  bear  the  same  consecrating 
legend  that  shone  upon  the  forehead  of  the  priest: 
Holy  unto  the  Lord  (Zech.  xiv.  20). 

It  is  important  to  observe  that  the  only  book  of  the 
New  Testament  in  which  the  priesthood  is  discussed 
dwells  quite  as  largely  upon  the  difference  as  upon  the 
likeness  between  the  Aaronic  and  the  Messianic  priest. 
The  latter  offered  but  one  Sacrifice  for  sins,  the  former 
offered  for  himself  before  doing  so  for  the  people  (Heb. 
x.  12).  The  latter  was  a  royal  Priest,  and  of  the 
order  of  aCanaanite  (Heb.  vii.  1-4),  thus  breaking  down 
all  the  old  system  at  one  long-predicted  blow — for  if  He 
were  on  earth  He  could  not  so  much  as  be  a  priest  at 
all  (Heb.  viii.  4) — and  with  it  all  the  old  racial  monopo¬ 
lies,  all  class  distinctions,  being  Himself  of  a  tribe  as 
to  which  Moses  spake  nothing  concerning  priests  (Heb. 
vii.  14).  Every  priest  standeth,  but  this  priest  hath 
for  ever  sat  down,  and  even  at  the  right  hand  of  God 
(Heb.  x.  1 1,  12). 

In  one  sense  this  priesthood  belongs  to  Christ  alone. 
In  another  sense  it  belongs  to  all  who  are  made  one 
with  Him,  and  therefore  a  kingly  priesthood  unto  God. 
But  nowhere  in  the  New  Testament  is  the  name  by 
which  He  is  designated  bestowed  upon  any  earthly 
minister  by  virtue  of  his  office.  The  presbyter  is  never 
called  sacerdos.  And  perhaps  the  heaviest  blow  ever 
dealt  to  popular  theology  was  the  misapplying  of  the 
New  Testament  epithet  (elder,  presbyter  or  priest)  to 
designate  the  sacerdotal  functions  of  the  Old  Testa¬ 
ment,  and  those  of  Christ  which  they  foreshadowed. 
It  is  not  the  word  “  priest  ”  that  is  at  fault,  but  some 
other  word  for  the  Old  Testament  official  which  is 
lacking,  and  cannot  now  be  supplied. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

THE  CONSECRATION  SERVICES, 
xxix. 

THE  priest  being  now  selected,  and  his  raiment  so 
provided  as  that  it  shall  speak  of  his  office  and 
its  glory,  there  remains  his  consecration. 

In  our  day  there  is  a  disposition  to  make  light  of  the 
formal  setting  apart  of  men  and  things  for  sacred  uses. 
If  God,  we  are  asked,  has  called  one  to  special  service, 
is  not  that  enough  ?  What  more  can  earth  do  to 
commission  the  chosen  of  the  sky  ?  But  the  plain 
answer  which  we  ought  to  have  the  courage  to  return 
is  that  this  is  not  at  all  enough.  For  God  Himself  had 
already  called  Paul  and  Barnabas  when  He  said  to 
such  folk  as  Simeon  Niger  and  Lucius  of  Cyrene  and 
Manaen,  11  Separate  Me  Barnabas  and  Saul  for  the  work 
whereunto  I  have  called  them"  (Acts  xiii.  1-4).  And 
these  obscure  people  not  only  laid  their  hands  upon  the 
great  apostle,  but  actually  sent  him  forth.  Now,  if  he 
was  not  exempted  from  the  need  of  an  orderly  com¬ 
mission  by  the  marvellous  circumstances  of  his  call,  by 
his  apostleship  not  of  man,  by  the  explicit  announce¬ 
ment  that  he  was  a  chosen  vessel  to  bear  the  sacred 
name  before  kings  and  peoples,  it  is  startling  to  be 
told  of  some  shallow  modern  evangelist,  who  works  for 
no  Church  and  submits  to  no  discipline,  that  he  can 


4io 


TIIE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


dispense  with  the  sanction  of  human  ordination  because 
he  is  so  clearly  sent  of  heaven. 

The  example  of  the  Old  Testament  will  no  doubt  be 
brushed  aside  as  if  the  religion  which  Jesus  learned 
and  honoured  were  a  mere  human  superstition.  Or 
else  it  would  be  natural  to  ask,  Is  it  because  the  offices 
and  functions  of  Judaism  were  more  formal,  more 
perfunctory  than  ours,  that  a  greater  spiritual  grace 
went  with  their  appointments  than  with  the  laying  on 
of  hands  in  the  Christian  Church,  a  rite  so  clearly 
sanctioned  in  the  New  Testament? 

It  is  written  of  Joshua  that  Moses  was  to  lay  his 
hands  upon  him,  because  already  the  Spirit  was  in  him ; 
and  of  Timothy  that  he  had  unfeigned  faith,  and  that 
prophecies  went  before  concerning  him  (Num.  xxvii.  18  ; 
I  Tim.  i.  18;  2  Tim.  i.  5).  But  in  neither  dispensa¬ 
tion  did  special  grace  fail  to  accompany  the  official 
separation  to  sacred  office :  Joshua  was  full  of  the 
Spirit  of  Wisdom,  for  Moses  had  laid  his  hands  upon 
him ;  and  Timothy  was  bidden  to  stir  into  flame  that 
gift  of  God  which  was  in  him  through  the  laying  on  of 
the  Apostle’s  hands  (Deut.  xxxiv.  9 ;  2  Tim.  i.  6). 

Accordingly  there  is  great  stress  laid  upon  the 
orderly  institution  of  the  priest.  And  yet,  to  make  it 
plain  that  his  authority  is  only  “  for  his  brethren,” 
Moses,  the  chief  of  the  nation,  is  to  officiate  through¬ 
out  the  ceremony  of  consecration.  He  it  is  who  shall 
offer  the  sacrifices  upon  the  altar,  and  sprinkle  the 
blood,  not  upon  the  first  day  only,  but  throughout  the 
ceremonies  of  the  week. 

In  the  first  place  certain  victims  must  be  held  in 
readiness — a  bullock  and  two  rams ;  and  with  these 
must  be  brought  in  one  basket  unleavened  bread,  and 
unleavened  cakes  made  with  oil,  and  unleavened  wafers 


xxix.j 


THE  CONSECRATION  SERVICES. 


4” 


on  which  oil  is  poured.  Then,  at  the  door  of  the  tent 
of  the  meeting  of  man  with  God,  a  ceremonial  washing 
must  follow,  in  a  laver  yet  to  be  provided.  Here  the 
assertion  that  purity  is  needed,  and  that  it  is  not 
inherent,  is  too  plain  to  be  dwelt  upon. 

But  such  details  as  the  assuming  of  the  existence 
of  a  laver,  for  which  no  directions  have  yet  been  given 
(and  presently  also  of  the  anointing  oil,  the  com¬ 
position  of  which  is  still  untold),  deserve  notice.  They 
are  much  more  in  the  manner  of  one  who  is  working 
out  a  plan,  seen  already  by  his  mental  vision,  but  of 
which  only  the  salient  and  essential  parts  have  been 
as  yet  stated,  than  of  any  priest  of  the  latter  days, 
who  would  first  have  completed  his  catalogue  of  the 
furniture,  and  only  then  have  described  the  ceremonies 
in  wffiich  he  was  accustomed  to  see  all  this  apparatus 
take  its  appointed  place. 

What  we  actually  find  is  quite  natural  to  a  creative 
imagination,  striking  out  the  broad  design  of  the  work 
and  its  uses  first,  and  then  filling  in  the  outlines. 
It  is  not  natural  at  a  time  when  freshness  and  in¬ 
spiration  have  departed,  and  squared  timber,  as  we 
are  told,  has  taken  the  place  of  the  living  tree. 

The  priest,  when  cleansed,  wTas  next  to  be  clad  in 
his  robes  of  office,  w-ith  the  mitre  on  his  head,  and 
upon  the  mitre  the  golden  plate,  with  its  inscription, 
which  is  here  called,  as  the  culminating  object  in  all 
his  rich  array,  “  the  holy  crowm  ”  (ver.  6). 

And  then  he  wTas  to  be  anointed.  Now,  the  use 
of  oil,  in  the  ceremony  of  investiture  to  office,  is 
peculiar  to  revealed  religion.  And  whether  we  sup¬ 
pose  it  to  refer  to  the  oil  in  a  lamp,  invisible,  yet 
the  secret  source  of  all  its  illuminating  power,  or 
to  that  refreshment  and  renovated  strength  bestowed 


412 


TIIE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


upon  a  weary  traveller  when  his  head  is  anointed  with 
oil,  in  either  case  it  expresses  the  grand  doctrine  of 
revealed  religion — that  no  office  may  be  filled  in  one’s 
own  strength,  but  that  the  inspiring  help  of  God  is 
offered,  as  surely  as  responsibilities  are  imposed. 
“  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  God  is  upon  Me,  because  He 
hath  anointed  Me.” 

With  these  three  ceremonies — ablution,  robing  and 
anointing — the  first  and  most  personal  section  of  the 
ritual  ended.  And  now  began  a  course  of  sacrifices 
to  God,  advancing  from  the  humblest  expression  of 
sin,  and  appeal  to  heaven  to  overlook  the  unworthiness 
of  its  servant,  to  that  which  best  exhibited  conscious 
acceptance,  enjoyment  of  privilege,  admission  to  a 
feast  with  God.  The  bullock  wras  a  sin-offering  :  the 
word  is  literally  sin,  and  occurs  more  than  once  in  the 
double  sense :  u  let  him  offer  for  his  sin  which  he 
hath  sinned  a  young  bullock  .  .  .  for  a  sin(-ojJcring)  ” 
(Lev.  iv.  3,  v.  6,  etc.).  And  this  is  the  explanation  of 
the  verse  wffiich  has  perplexed  so  many :  u  He  made 
Him  to  be  sin  for  us,  Who  knew  no  sin  ”  (2  Cor.  v.  21). 
The  doctrine  that  pardon  comes  not  by  a  cheap  and 
painless  overlooking  of  transgression,  as  a  thing 
indifferent,  but  by  the  transfer  of  its  consequences 
to  a  victim  divinely  chosen,  could  not  easily  find 
clearer  expression  than  in  this  word.  And  it  was 
surely  a  sobering  experience,  and  a  wholesome  one, 
when  Aaron,  in  his  glorious  robes,  sparkling  with 
gems,  and  bearing  on  his  forehead  the  legend  of  his 
holy  calling,  laid  his  hand,  beside  those  of  his  children 
and  successors,  upon  the  doomed  creature  which  was 
made  sin  for  him.  The  gesture  meant  confession, 
acceptance  of  the  appointed  expiation,  submission  to 
be  freed  from  guilt  by  a  method  so  humiliating  and 


xxix.] 


THE  CONSECRATION  SERVICES. 


413 


admonitory.  There  was  no  undue  exaltation  in  the 
mind  of  any  priest  whose  heart  went  with  this 
“  remembrance  of  sins.” 

The  bullock  was  immediately  slain  at  the  door 
of  “  the  tent  of  meeting ” ;  and  to  show  that  the 
shedding  of  his  blood  was  an  essential  part  of  the 
rite,  part  of  it  was  put  with  the  finger  on  the  horns 
of  the  altar,  and  the  remainder  was  poured  out  at 
the  base.  Only  then  might  the  fat  and  the  kidney 
be  burned  upon  the  altar ;  but  it  is  never  said  of  any 
sin-offering,  as  presently  of  the  burnt-offering  and 
the  peace-offerings,  that  it  is  “  a  sweet  savour  before 
Jehovah”  (vers.  18,  25) — a  phrase  which  is  only  once 
extended  to  a  trespass-offering  for  a  purely  uncon¬ 
scious  lapse  (Lev.  iv.  31).  The  sin-offering  is,  at  the 
best,  a  deplorable  necessity.  And  therefore  the  notion 
of  a  gift,  welcome  to  Jehovah,  is  carefully  shut  out : 
no  portion  of  such  an  offering  may  go  to  maintain 
the  priests:  all  must  be  burned  “with  fire  without 
the  camp ;  it  is  a  sin-offering  ”  (ver.  14).  Rightly 
does  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  emphasize  this  fact  : 
“The  bodies  of  those  beasts  whose  blood  is  brought 
into  the  Holy  Place  ...  as  an  offering  for  sin”  are 
burned  without  the  camp.  The  bodies  of  other  sacri¬ 
fices  were  not  reckoned  unfit  for  food.*  And  so 
there  is  a  striking  example  of  humility,  as  v'ell  as 
an  instructive  coincidence,  in  the  fact  that  Jesus 
suffered  without  the  gate,  being  the  true  Sin-offering, 
0  that  He  might  sanctify  the  people  through  His 
own  blood”  (Heb.  xiii.  1 1,  12). 

Thus,  by  sacrifice  for  sin,  the  priest  is  rendered  fit  tc 

*  Neither,  it  must  be  added,  were  the  bodies  of  certain  sin-offerings 
of  the  lower  grade,  and  in  which  the  priest  was  not  personally 
concerned  (Lev.  x.  17,  etc.). 


414 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


offer  lip  to  God  the  symbol  of  a  devoted  life.  Again, 
therefore,  the  hands  of  Aaron  and  his  sons  are  laid 
upon  the  head  of  the  ram,  because  they  come  to  offer 
what  represents  themselves  in  another  sense  than 
that  of  expiation — a  sweet  savour  now,  an  offering 
made  by  fire  unto  Jehovah  (ver.  18).  And  to  show 
that  it  is  perfectly  acceptable  to  Him,  the  whole  ram 
shall  be  burnt  upon  the  altar,  and  not  now  without 
the  camp :  “  it  is  a  burnt-offering  unto  the  Lord.” 
Such  is  the  appointed  way  of  God  with  man — first 
expiation,  then  devotion. 

The  third  animal  was  a  “  peace-offering  ”  (ver.  28). 
This  is  wrongly  explained  to  mean  an  offering  by 
which  peace  is  made,  for  then  there  could  be  no 
meaning  in  what  went  before.  It  is  the  offering  of 
one  who  is  now  in  a  state  of  peace  with  God,  and 
who  is  therefore  himself,  in  many  cases,  allowed  to 
partake  of  what  he  brings.  But  on  this  occasion 
some  quite  peculiar  ceremonies  were  introduced,  and 
the  ram  is  called  by  a  strange  name — “  the  ram  of 
consecration.”  When  Aaron  and  his  sons  have  again 
declared  their  connection  with  the  animal  by  laying 
their  hands  upon  it,  it  is  slain.  And  then  the  blood 
is  applied  to  the  tip  of  their  right  ear,  the  thumb  of 
their  right  hand,  and  the  great  toe  of  their  right 
foot,  that  the  ear  may  hearken,  and  the  best  energies 
obey,  and  their  life  become  as  that  of  the  consecrated 
animal,  their  bodies  being  presented,  a  living  sacrifice, 
holy,  acceptable  to  God.  Then  the  same  blood,  with 
the  oil  which  spoke  of  heavenly  anointing,  was 
sprinkled  upon  them  and  upon  their  official  robes, 
and  all  were  hallowed.  Then  the  fattest  and  richest 
parts  of  the  animal  were  taken,  with  a  loaf,  a  cake, 
and  a  wafer  from  the  basket,  and  placed  in  the 


xxix.] 


THE  CONSECRATION  SERVICES. 


415 


hands  of  Aaron  and  his  sons.  This  was  their  formal 
investiture  with  official  rights ;  although  not  yet  per¬ 
forming  service,  it  was  as  priests  that  they  received 
these ;  and  their  hands,  swayed  by  those  of  Moses, 
solemnly  waved  them  before  the  Lord  in  formal  pre¬ 
sentation,  after  which  the  pieces  were  consumed  by 
fire.  The  breast  was  likewise  waved,  and  became  the 
perpetual  property  of  Aaron  and  his  sons — although 
on  this  occasion  it  passed  from  their  hands  to  be 
the  portion  of  Moses,  who  officiated.  The  remainder 
of  the  flesh,  seethed  in  a  holy  place,  belonged  to 
Aaron  and  his  sons.  No  stranger  (of  another  family) 
might  eat  it,  and  what  was  left  until  morning  should 
be  consumed  by  fire,  that  is  to  say,  destroyed  in  a 
manner  absolutely  clean,  seeing  no  corruption. 

For  seven  days  this  rite  of  consecration  was  re¬ 
peated  ;  and  every  day  the  altar  also  was  cleansed, 
rendering  it  most  holy,  so  that  whatever  touched  it 
was  holy. 

Thus  the  people  saw  their  representative  and  chief 
purified,  accepted  and  devoted.  Thenceforward,  when 
they  too  brought  their  offerings,  and  beheld  them 
presented  (in  person  or  through  his  subordinates)  by 
the  high  priest  with  holiness  emblazoned  upon  his 
brow,  they  gained  hope,  and  even  assurance,  since  one 
so  consecrated  was  bidden  to  present  their  intercession  ; 
and  sometimes  they  saw  him  pass  into  secret  places  of 
mysterious  sanctity,  bearing  their  tribal  name  on  his 
shoulder  and  his  bosom,  while  the  chime  of  golden 
bells  announced  his  movements,  ministering  there  for 
them. 

But  the  nation  as  a  whole,  with  which  this  historical 
book  is  chiefly  interested,  saw  in  the  high  priest  the 
means  of  continually  rendering  to  God  the  service  of 


4 16 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


its  loyalty.  Every  day  began  and  closed  with  the 
burnt-offering  of  a  lamb  of  the  first  year,  along  with  a 
meal-offering  of  fine  flour  and  oil,  and  a  drink-offering 
of  wTine.  This  would  be  a  sweet  savour  unto  God, 
not  after  the  carnal  fashion  in  which  sceptics  have 
interpreted  the  words,  but  in  the  same  sense  in  which 
the  wicked  are  a  smoke  in  His  nostrils  from  a  con¬ 
tinually  burning  fire. 

And  where  this  offering  was  made,  the  Omnipresent 
would  meet  with  them.  There  He  would  convey  His 
mind  to  His  priest.  There  also  He  would  meet  with 
all  the  people — not  occasionally,  as  amid  the  more 
impressive  but  less  tolerable  splendours  of  Sinai,  but 
to  dwell  among  them  and  be  their  God.  And  they 
should  know  that  all  this  was  true,  and  also  that  for 
this  He  led  them  out  of  Egypt:  “I  am  Jehovah  their 
God.” 


CHAPTER  XXX. 


INCENSE 


XXX.  I— IQ. 


HE  altar  of  incense  was  not  mentioned  when  the 


A.  tent  of  meeting  was  being  prepared  and  furnished. 
But  when,  in  the  Divine  idea,  this  is  done,  when  all 
is  ready  for  the  intercourse  of  God  and  man,  and  the 
priest  and  the  daily  victims  are  provided  for,  some¬ 
thing  more  than  this  formal  routine  of  offerings  might 
yet  be  sought  for.  This  material  worship  of  the 
senses,  this  round  of  splendour  and  of  tragedy,  this 
blaze  of  gold  and  gold-encrusted  timber,  these  curtains 
embroidered  in  bright  colours,  and  ministers  glowing 
with  gems,  this  blood  and  fire  upon  the  altar,  this 
worldly  sanctuary, — was  it  all  ?  Or  should  it  not  do 
as  nature  ever  does,  which  seems  to  stretch  its  hands 
out  into  the  impalpable,  and  to  grow  all  but  spiritual 
while  we  gaze;  so  that  the  mountain  folds  itself  in 
vapour,  and  the  ocean  in  mist  and  foam,  and  the  rugged 
stem  of  the  tree  is  arrayed  in  fineness  of  quivering 
frondage,  and  it  may  be  of  tinted  blossom,  and  around 
it  breathes  a  subtle  fragrance,  the  most  impalpable 
existence  known  to  sense  ?  Fragrance  indeed  is  matter 
passing  into  the  immaterial,  it  is  the  sigh  of  the 
sensuous  for  the  spiritual  state  of  being,  it  is  an 
aspiration. 


27 


4iS 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


And  therefore  an  altar,  smaller  than  that  of  burnt' 
offering,  but  much  more  precious,  being  plated  all 
around  and  on  the  top  with  gold  (a  “golden  altar”) 
(xxxix.  38),  is  now  to  be  prepared,  on  which  incense 
of  sweet  spices  should  be  burned  whenever  a  burnt- 
offering  spoke  of  human  devotion,  and  especially  when 
the  daily  lamb  was  offered,  every  morning  and  every 
night. 

This  altar  occupied  a  significant  position.  Of  neces¬ 
sity,  it  was  without  the  Most  Holy  Place,  or  else 
it  would  have  been  practically  inaccessible ;  and  yet 
it  was  spiritually  in  the  closest  connection  with  the 
presence  of  God  within.  The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
reckons  it  among  the  furniture  of  the  inner  shrine* 
(Heb.  ix.  4),  close  to  the  veil  of  which  it  stood,  and 
within  which  its  burning  odours  made  their  sweetness 
palpable.  In  the  temple  of  Solomon  it  was  11  the  altar 
that  belonged  to  the  oracle”  (1  Kings  vi.  22).  In 
Leviticus  (xvi.  12)  incense  was  connected  especially 
with  that  spot  in  the  Most  Holy  Place  which  best 
expressed  the  grace  that  it  appealed  to,  and  “  the  cloud 
of  incense  ”  was  to  °  cover  the  mercy-seat.”  Therefore 
Moses  was  bidden  to  put  this  altar  “  before  the  veil  that 
is  by  the  ark  of  the  testimony,  before  the  mercy-seat  ” 
(ver.  6). 

It  can  never  have  been  difficult  to  see  the  meaning 
of  the  rite  for  which  this  altar  was  provided.  When 
Zacharias  burned  incense  the  multitude  stood  without, 


*  For  it  is  incredible  that,  in  a  catalogue  of  furniture  which  included 
Aaron’s  rod  and  the  pot  of  manna,  this  altar  should  be  omitted,  and 
“  a  golden  censer,”  elsewhere  unheard  of,  substituted.  The  gloss  is 
too  evidently  an  endeavour  to  get  rid  of  a  difficulty.  But  in  idea 
and  suggestion  this  altar  belonged  to  the  Most  Holy.  That  shrine 
“had  ”  it,  though  it  actually  stood  outside. 


xxx.  i-io.] 


INCENSE. 


419 


praying.  The  incense  in  the  vial  of  the  angel  of  the 
Apocatypse  was  the  prayers  of  the  saints  (Luke  i.  10 ; 
Rev.  viii.  3).  And,  long  before,  when  the  Psalmist 
thought  of  the  priest  approaching  the  veil  which  con¬ 
cealed  the  Supreme  Presence,  and  there  kindling 
precious  spices  until  their  aromatic  breath  became  a 
silent  plea  within,  it  seemed  to  him  that  his  own 
heart  was  even  such  an  altar,  whence  the  perfumed 
flame  of  holy  longings  might  be  wafted  into  the  pre¬ 
sence  of  his  God,  and  he  whispered,  “  Let  my  prayer 
be  set  forth  before  Thee  as  incense  ”  (Ps.  cxli.  2). 

Such  being  the  import  of  the  type,  we  need  not 
wonder  that  it  was  a  perpetual  ordinance  in  their 
generations,  nor  yet  that  no  strange  perfume  might 
be  offered,  but  only  what  was  prescribed  by  God. 
The  admixture  with  prayer  of  any  human,  self-asseit 
ing,  intrusive  element,  is  this  unlawful  fragrance.  It 
is  rhetoric  in  the  leader  of  extempore  prayer;  studied 
inflexions  in  the  conductor  of  liturgical  service;  animal 
excitement,  or  sentimental  pensiveness,  or  assent  which 
is  merely  vocal,  among  the  worshippers.  It  is  what¬ 
ever  professes  to  be  prayer,  and  is  not  that  but  a 
substitute.  And  formalism  is  an  empty  censer. 

But,  however  earnest  and  pure  may  seem  to  be  the 
breathing  of  the  soul  to  God,  something  unworthy 
mingles  with  what  is  best  in  man.  The  very  altar 
of  incense  needs  to  have  an  atonement  made  for  it 
once  in  the  year  throughout  their  generations  with  the 
blood  of  the  sin-offering  of  atonement.  The  prayer 
of  every  heart  which  knows  its  own  secret  will  be  this  : 

w  Forgive  what  seemed  my  sin  in  me, 

What  seemed  iny  worth  since  I  began ; 

For  merit  lives  from  man  to  man 
And  not  from  man,  O  Lord,  to  Thee.” 


420 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


THE  CENSUS. 

xxx.  1 1- 1 6. 

Moses  by  Divine  command  was  soon  to  number 
Israel,  and  thus  to  lay  the  foundation  for  its  organisa¬ 
tion  upon  the  march.  A  census  was  not,  therefore, 
supposed  to  be  presumptuous  or  sinful  in  itself ;  it  was 
the  vain-glory  of  David's  census  which  was  culpable. 

But  the  honour  of  being  numbered  among  the  people 
of  God  should  awaken  a  sense  of  unworthiness.  Men 
had  reason  to  fear  lest  the  enrolment  of  such  as  they 
were  in  the  host  of  God  should  produce  a  pestilence  to 
sweep  out  the  unclean  from  among  the  righteous.  At 
least  they  must  make  some  practical  admission  of  their 
demerit.  And  therefore  every  man  of  twenty  }^ears 
who  passed  over  unto  them  that  wTere  numbered  (it 
is  a  picturesque  glimpse  that  is  here  given  into  the 
method  of  enrolment)  should  offer  for  his  soul  a  ransom 
of  half  a  shekel  after  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary.  And 
because  it  was  a  ransom,  the  tribute  was  the  same  for 
all ;  the  poor  might  not  bring  less,  nor  the  rich  more. 
Here  was  a  grand  assertion  of  the  equality  of  all  souls 
in  the  eyes  of  God — a  seed  which  long  ages  might 
overlook,  but  which  was  sure  to  fructify  in  its  ap¬ 
pointed  time. 

For  indeed  the  madness  of  modern  levelling  systems 
is  only  their  attempt  to  level  down  instead  of  up,  their 
dream  that  absolute  equality  can  be  obtained,  or  being 
obtained  can  be  made  a  blessing,  by  the  envious  de¬ 
molition  of  all  that  is  lofty,  and  not  by  all  together 
claiming  the  supreme  elevation,  the  measure  of  the 
stature  of  manhood  in  Jesus  Christ. 

It  is  not  in  any  phalanstere  of  Fourier  or  Harmony 


XXX.  1 1-16.3 


THE  CENSUS. 


421 


Hall  of  Owen,  that  mankind  will  ever  learn  to  break  a 
common  bread  and  drink  of  a  common  cup ;  it  is  at  the 
table  of  a  common  Lord. 

And  so  this  first  assertion  of  the  equality  of  man  was 
given  to  those  who  all  ate  the  same  spiritual  meat  and 
drank  the  same  spiritual  drink. 

This  half-shekel  gradually  became  an  annual  impost, 
levied  for  the  great  expenses  of  the  Temple.  Thus 
Joash  made  a  proclamation  throughout  Judah  and 
Jerusalem,  to  bring  in  for  the  Lord  the  tax  that 
Moses,  the  servant  of  God,  laid  upon  Israel  in  the 
wilderness  ”  (2  Chron.  xxiv.  9). 

And  it  was  the  claim  for  this  impost,  too  rashly 
conceded  by  Peter  with  regard  to  his  Master,  which  led 
Jesus  to  distinguish  clearly  between  His  own  relation 
to  God  and  that  of  others,  even  of  the  chosen  race. 

He  paid  no  ransom  for  His  soul.  He  was  a  Son,  in 
a  sense  in  which  no  other,  even  of  the  Jews,  could 
claim  to  be  so.  Now,  the  kings  of  the  earth  did  not 
levy  tribute  from  their  sons ;  so  that,  if  Christ  paid,  it 
was  not  to  fulfil  a  duty,  but  to  avoid  being  an  offence. 
And  God  Himself  would  provide,  directly  and  mira¬ 
culously,  what  He  did  not  demand  from  Jesus.  There¬ 
fore  it  was  that,  on  this  one  occasion  and  no  other, 
Christ  Who  sought  figs  when  hungry,  and  when  athirst 
asked  water  at  alien  hands,  met  His  own  personal 
requirement  by  a  miracle,  as  if  to  protest  in  deed,  as  in 
word,  against  any  burden  from  such  an  obligation  as 
Peter's  rashness  had  conceded. 

And  yet,  with  that  marvellous  condescension  which 
shone  most  brightly  when  He  most  asserted  His  pre¬ 
rogative,  He  admitted  Peter  also  to  a  share  in  this 
miraculous  redemption-money,  as  He  admits  us  all  to 
a  share  in  His  glory  in  the  skies.  Is  it  not  He  only 


422 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS . 


Who  can  redeem  His  brother,  and  give  to  God  a 
ransom  for  him  ? 

It  is  the  silver  thus  levied  which  was  used  in  the 
construction  of  the  sanctuary.  All  the  other  materials 
were  free-will  offerings ;  but  even  as  the  entire  taber¬ 
nacle  was  based  upon  the  ponderous  sockets  into  which 
the  boards  were  fitted,  made  of  the  silver  of  this  tax, 
so  do  all  our  glad  and  willing  services  depend  upon 
this  fundamental  truth,  that  we  are  unworthy  even  to 
be  reckoned  His,  that  we  owe  before  we  can  bestow, 
that  we  aie  only  allowed  to  offer  any  gift  because  He 
is  so  merciful  in  His  demand.  Israel  gladly  brought 
much  mere  than  was  needed  of  all  things  precious. 
But  first,  as  an  absolutely  imperative  ransom,  God 
demanded  from  each  soul  the  half  of  three  shillings 
and  sevenpence. 


THE  LAVER. 

XXX.  17-21. 

For  the  cleansing  of  various  sacrifices,  but  especially 
for  the  ceremonial  washing  of  the  priests,  a  laver  of 
brass  was  to  be  made,  and  placed  upon  a  separate 
base,  the  more  easily  to  be  emptied  and  replenished. 

We  have  seen  already  that  although  its  actual  use 
preceded  that  of  the  altar,  yet  the  other  stood  in  front 
of  it,  as  if  to  assert,  to  the  very  eyes  of  all  men,  that 
sacrifice  precedes  purification.  But  the  use  of  the  laver 
was  not  by  the  man  as  man,  but  by  the  priest  as 
mediator.  In  his  office  he  represented  the  absolute 
purity  of  Christ.  And  therefore  it  was  a  capital  offence 
to  enter  the  tabernacle  or  to  burn  a  sacrifice  without 
first  having  washed  the  hands  and  feet.  At  his 
inauguration,  the  whole  person  of  the  priest  was  bathed, 


XXX.  22-38.]  THE  ANOINTING  OIL  AND  INCENSE.  423 


and  thenceforth  he  needed  not  save  to  remove  the 
stains  of  contact  with  the  world. 

When  the  laver  was  actually  made,  an  interesting 
fact  was  recorded  about  its  materials :  11  He  made 

the  laver  of  brass,  and  the  base  of  it  of  brass,  of  the 
mirrors  of  the  serving-women  which  served  at  the  door 
of  the  tent  of  meeting  ”  (xxxviii.  8).  Thus  their  instru¬ 
ments  of  personal  adornment  were  applied  to  further 
a  personal  preparation  of  a  more  solemn  kind,  like  the 
ointment  with  which  a  penitent  woman  anointed  the 
feet  of  Jesus.  There  is  a  fitness  which  ought  to  be 
considered  in  the  direction  of  our  gifts,  not  as  a  matter 
of  duty,  but  of  good  taste  and  charm.  And  thus  also 
they  continually  saw  the  monument  of  their  self- 
sacrifice.  There  is  an  innocent  satisfaction,  far  indeed 
from  vanity,  when  one  looks  at  his  own  work  for 
God. 

THE  ANOINTING  OIL  AND  THE  INCENSE. 

XXX.  22-38. 

We  have  already  seen  the  meaning  of  the  anointing 
oil  and  of  the  incense. 

But  we  have  further  to  remark  that  their  ingredients 
were  accurately  prescribed,  that  they  were  to  be  the 
best  and  rarest  of  their  kind,  and  that  special  skill 
was  demanded  in  their  preparation. 

Such  was  the  natural  dictate  of  reverence  in  pre¬ 
paring  the  symbols  of  God's  grace  to  man,  and  of 
man’s  appeal  to  God. 

With  the  type  of  grace  should  be  anointed  the 
tent  and  the  ark,  and  the  table  of  shewbread  and 
the  candlestick,  with  all  their  implements,  and  the 
altar  of  incense,  and  the  altar  of  burnt  sacrifice  and 


424 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


the  laver.  All  the  import  of  every  portion  of  the 
Temple  worship  could  be  realized  only  by  the  out¬ 
pouring  of  the  Spirit  of  grace. 

It  was  added  that  this  should  be  a  holy  anointing 
oil,  not  to  be  made,  much  less  used,  for  common 
purposes,  on  pain  of  death.  The  same  was  enacted 
of  the  incense  which  should  burn  before  Jehovah : 
li  according  to  the  composition  thereof  ye  shall  not 
make  for  yourselves ;  it  shall  be  unto  thee  holy  for 
the  Lord :  whosoever  shall  make  like  unto  that,  to 
smell  thereto,  he  shall  be  cut  off  from  his  people." 

And  this  was  meant  to  teach  reverence.  One 
might  urge  that  the  spices  and  frankincense  and  salt 
were  not  in  themselves  sacred  :  there  was  no  con¬ 
secrating  efficacy  in  their  combination,  no  charm  or 
spell  in  the  union  of  these,  more  than  of  any  other 
drugs.  Why,  then,  should  they  be  denied  to  culture  ? 
Why  should  her  resources  be  thus  restricted  ?  Does 
any  one  suppose  that  such  arguments  belong  peculiarly 
to  the  New  Testament  spirit,  or  that  the  saints  of  the 
older  dispensation  had  any  superstitious  views  about 
these  ingredients  ?  If  it  was  through  such  notions 
that  they  abstained  from  vulgarising  its  use,  then  they 
were  on  the  way  to  paganism,  through  a  materialised 
worship. 

But  in  truth  they  knew  as  well  as  we  that  gums 
were  only  gums,  just  as  they  knew  that  the  Most 
High  dwelleth  not  in  temples  made  wdth  hands.  And 
yet  they  were  bidden  to  reverence  both  the  shrine 
and  the  apparatus  of  His  worship,  for  their  own 
sakes,  for  the  solemnity  and  sobriety  of  their  feelings, 
not  because  God  would  be  a  loser  if  they  did  other¬ 
wise.  And  we  may  well  ask  ourselves,  in  these 
latter  days,  whether  the  constant  proposal  to  secularise 


xxx.  22-38.]  THE  ANOINTING  OIL  AND  INCENSE.  425 


religious  buildings,  revenues,  endowments  and  seasons 
dees  really  indicate  greater  religious  freedom,  or  only 
greater  freedom  from  religious  control. 

And  we  may  be  sure  that  a  light  treatment  of 
sacred  subjects  and  sacred  words  is  a  very  dangerous 
symptom  :  it  is  not  the  words  and  subjects  alone 
that  are  being  secularised,  but  also  our  own  souls. 

There  is  in  our  time  a  curious  tendency  among  men 
of  letters  to  use  holy  things  for  a  mere  perfume,  that 
literature  may  u  smell  thereto." 

A  novelist  has  chosen  for  the  title  of  a  story 
“  Just  as  I  am."  An  innocent  and  graceful  poet  has 
seen  a  smile, — 

“’Tvvas  such  a  smile, 

Aaron’s  twelve  jewels  seemed  to  mix 
With  the  lamps  of  the  golden  candlesticks.** 

Another  is  bolder,  and  sings  of  the  war  of  love, — 

“  In  the  great  battle  when  the  hosts  are  met 
On  Armageddon’s  plain,  with  spears  beset.’* 

Another  thinks  of  Mazzini  as  the 

“  Dear  lord  and  leader,  at  whose  hand 
The  first  days  and  the  last  days  stand,** 

and  again  as  he  who 

“  Said,  when  all  Time’s  sea  was  foam, 

4  Let  there  be  Rome,’  and  there  was  Rome.** 

And  Victor  Hugo  did  not  shrink  from  describing,  and 
that  with  a  strange  and  scandalous  ignorance  of  the 
original  incidents,  the  crucifixion  by  Louis  Napoleon 
of  the  Christ  of  nations. 

Now,  Scripture  is  literature,  besides  being  a  great 
deal  more ;  and,  as  such,  it  is  absurd  to  object  to  all 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


426 

allusions  to  it  in  other  literature.  Yet  the  tendency 
of  which  these  extracts  are  examples  is  not  merely 
toward  allusion,  but  desecration  of  solemn  and  sacred 
thoughts :  it  is  the  conversion  of  incense  into  per¬ 
fumery. 

There  is  another  development  of  the  same  tendenc}', 
by  no  means  modern,  noted  by  the  prophet  when  he 
complains  that  the  message  of  God  has  become  as  the 
“  very  lovely  song  of  one  who  hath  a  pleasant  voice 
and  playeth  well  on  an  instrument.”  Wherever  divine 
service  is  only  appreciated  in  so  far  as  it  is  “well 
rendered,”  as  rich  music  or  stately  enunciation  charm 
the  ear,  and  the  surroundings  are  aesthetic, — wherever 
the  gospel  is  heard  with  enjoyment  only  of  the  elo¬ 
quence  or  controversial  skill  of  its  rendering,  wherever 
religion  is  reduced  by  the  cultivated  to  a  thrill  or  to 
a  solace,  or  by  the  Salvationist  to  a  riot  or  a  romp, 
wherever  Isaiah  and  the  Psalms  are  only  admired  as 
poetry,  and  heaven  is  only  thought  of  as  a  languid 
and  sentimental  solace  amid  wearying  cares, — there 
again  is  a  making  of  the  sacred  balms  to  smell  thereto. 

And  as  often  as  a  minister  of  God  finds  in  his  holy 
office  a  mere  outlet  for  his  natural  gifts  of  rhetoric  or 
of  administration,  he  also  is  tempted  to  commit  this 
crime. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

BEZALEEL  AND  AHOLIAB. 
xxxi.  I- 1 8. 

NEXT  after  this  marking  off  so  sharply  of  the  holy 
from  the  profane,  this  consecration  of  men  to 
special  service,  this  protection  of  sacred  unguents  and 
sacred  gums  from  secular  use,  we  come  upon  a  pas¬ 
sage  curiously  contrasted,  yet  not  really  antagonistic 
to  the  last,  of  marvellous  practical  wisdom,  and  well 
calculated  to  make  a  nation  wise  and  great. 

The  Lord  announces  that  He  has  called  by  name 
Bezaleel,  the  son  of  Uri,  and  has  filled  him  with  the 
Spirit  of  God.  To  what  sacred  office,  then,  is  he 
called  ?  Simply  to  be  a  supreme  craftsman,  the  rarest 
of  artisans.  This  also  is  a  divine  gift.  a  I  have  filled 
him  with  the  Spirit  of  God  in  wisdom  and  in  under¬ 
standing  and  in  knowledge  and  in  all  manner  of 
workmanship,  to  devise  cunning  works,  to  work  in  gold 
and  in  silver  and  in  brass  and  in  cutting  of  stones  for 
setting,  and  in  carving  of  wood,  to  work  in  all  manner 
of  workmanship,” — that  is  to  say,  of  manual  dexterity. 
With  him  God  had  appointed  Aholiab ;  “and  in  the 
hearts  of  all  the  wise-hearted  I  have  put  wisdom.” 
Thus  should  be  fitly  made  the  tabernacle  and  its  fur¬ 
niture,  and  the  finely  wrought  garments,  and  the 
anointing  oil  and  the  incense. 


428 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


So  then  it  appears  that  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  is 
to  be  recognised  in  the  work  of  the  carpenter  and  the 
jeweller,  the  apothecary  and  the  tailor.  Probably  we 
object  to  such  a  statement,  so  baldly  put.  But  in¬ 
spiration  does  not  object.  Moses  told  the  children  of 
Israel  that  Jehovah  had  filled  Bezaleel  with  the  Spirit 
of  God,  and  also  Aholiab,  for  the  work  “of  the  engraver 
.  .  .  and  of  the  embroiderer  .  .  .  and  of  the  weaver  ” 
(xxxv.  31,  35). 

It  is  quite  clear  that  we  must  cease  to  think  of  the 
Divine  Spirit  as  inspiring  only  prayers  and  hymns  and 
sermons.  All  that  is  good  and  beautiful  and  wise  in 
human  art  is  the  gift  of  God.  We  feel  that  the 
supreme  Artist  is  audible  in  the  wind  among  the  pines ; 
but  is  man  left  to  himself  when  he  marshals  into  more 
sublime  significance  the  voices  of  the  wind  among  the 
organ  tubes  ?  At  sunrise  and  sunset  we  feel  that 

“  On  the  beautiful  mountains  the  pictures  of  God  are  hung  ” ; 

but  is  there  no  revelation  of  glory  and  of  freshness 
in  other  pictures  ?  Once  the  assertion  that  a  great 
masterpiece  was  u  inspired  "  was  a  clear  recognition  of 
the  central  fire  at  which  all  genius  lights  its  lamp  : 
now,  alas  !  it  has  become  little  more  than  a  sceptical 
assumption  that  Isaiah  and  Milton  are  much  upon  a 
level.  But  the  doctrine  of  this  passage  is  the  divinity 
of  all  endowment ;  it  is  quite  another  thing  to  claim 
Divine  authority  for  a  given  product  sprung  from  the 
free  human  being  who  is  so  richly  crowned  and  gifted. 

Thus  far  we  have  smoothed  our  way  by  speaking 
only  of  poetry,  painting,  music — things  which  really 
compete  with  nature  in  their  spiritual  suggestiveness. 
But  Moses  spoke  of  the  robe-maker,  the  embroiderer, 
the  weaver,  and  the  perfumer. 


xxxi.  1-18.] 


BEZALEEL  AND  AIIOLIAB. 


429 


Nevertheless,  the  one  is  carried  with  the  other. 
Where  shall  we  draw  the  line,  for  example,  in  architec¬ 
ture  or  in  ironwork  ?  And  there  is  another  considera¬ 
tion  which  must  not  be  overlooked.  God  is  assuredly 
in  the  growth  of  humanity,  in  the  progress  of  true 
civilisation — in  all,  the  recognition  of  which  makes 
history  philosophical.  It  is  not  only  the  saints  who 
feel  themselves  to  be  the  instruments  of  a  Greater  than 
they.  Cromwell  and  Bismarck,  Columbus,  Raleigh  and 
Drake,  William  the  Silent  and  William  the  Third,  felt 
it.  Mr.  Stan’ey  has  told  us  how  the  consciousness 
that  he  was  being  used  grew  up  in  him,  not  through 
fanaticism  but  by  slow  experience,  groping  his  way 
through  the  gloom  of  Central  Afi  ica. 

But  none  will  deny  that  one  of  the  greatest  factors 
in  modern  history  is  its  industrial  development.  Is 
there,  then,  no  sacredness  here  ? 

The  doctrine  of  Scripture  is  not  that  man  is  a  tool, 
but  that  he  is  responsible  for  vast  gifts,  which  come 
directly  from  heaven — that  every  good  gift  is  from 
above,  that  it  was  God  Himself  Who  planted  in  Paradise 
the  tree  of  knowledge. 

Nor  would  anything  do  more  to  restrain  the  passions, 
to  calm  the  impulses  and  to  elevate  the  self-respect  of 
modern  life,  to  call  back  its  energies  from  the  base 
competition  for  gold,  and  make  our  industries  what 
dreamers  persuade  themselves  that  the  mediaeval  in¬ 
dustries  were,  than  a  quick  and  general  perception  of 
what  is  meant  when  faculty  goes  by  such  names  as 
talent,  endowment,  gift — of  the  glory  of  its  use,  the 
tragedy  of  its  defilement.  Many  persons,  indeed,  reject 
this  doctrine  because  they  cannot  believe  that  man  has 
power  to  abase  so  high  a  thing  so  sadly.  But  what, 
then,  do  they  think  of  the  human  body  ? 


430 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


What  connection  is  there  between  all  this  and  the 
reiteration  of  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  ?  Not  merely  that 
the  moral  law  is  now  made  a  civic  statute  as  well,  for 
this  had  been  done  already  (xxiii.  12).  But,  as  our 
Lord  has  taught  us  that  a  Jew  on  the  Sabbath  was  fiee 
to  perform  works  of  mercy,  it  might  easily  be  supposed 
lawful,  and  even  meritorious,  to  hasten  forward  the 
construction  of  the  place  where  God  would  meet  His 
people.  But  He  who  said  “  I  will  have  mercy  and  not 
sacrifice”  said  also  that  to  obey  was  better  than  sacrifice. 
Accordingly  this  caution  closes  the  long  story  of  plans 
and  preparations.  And  when  Moses  called  the  people 
to  the  work,  his  first  words  were  to  repeat  it  (xxxv.  2). 

Finally,  there  was  given  to  Moses  the  deposit  for 
v  liich  so  noble  a  shrine  was  planned — the  two  tables 
of  the  law,  miraculously  produced. 

If  any  one,  without  supposing  that  they  were  literally 
written  with  a  literal  finger,  conceives  that  this  was 
the  meaning  conveyed  to  a  Hebrew  by  the  expression 
“  written  with  the  finger  of  God,”  he  entirely  misses  the 
Hebrew  mode  of  thought,  which  habitually  connects 
the  Lord  with  an  arm,  with  a  chariot,  with  a  bow  made 
naked,  with  a  tent  and  curtains,  without  the  slightest 
taint  of  materialism  in  its  conception.  Did  not  the 
magicians,  failing  to  imitate  the  third  plague,  say  “  This 
is  the  finger  of  a  God  ”  ?  Did  not  Jesus  Himself 
“cast  out  devils  by  the  finger  of  God  ”  ?  (Ex.  viii.  19 ; 
Luke  xi.  20). 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 


THE  GOLDEN  CALF. 


XXX11. 


HILE  God  was  thus  providing  for  Israel,  what 


V  V  had  Israel  done  with  God  ?  They  had  grown 
weary  of  waiting :  had  despaired  of  and  slighted  their 
heroic  leader,  (“  this  Moses,  the  man  that  brought  us 
up/’)  had  demanded  gods,  or  a  god,  at  the  hand  o t 
Aaron,  and  had  so  far  carried  him  with  them  or  coerced 
him  that  he  thought  it  a  stroke  of  policy  to  save  them 
from  breaking  the  first  commandment  by  joining  them 
in  a  breach  of  the  second,  and  by  infecting  “a  feast  to 
Jehovah"  with  the  licentious  “  play"  of  paganism.  At 
the  beginning,  the  only  fitness  attributed  to  Aaron 
was  that  “  he  can  speak  well."  But  the  plastic  and 
impressible  temperament  of  a  gifted  speaker  does  not 
favour  tenacity  of  will  in  danger.  Demosthenes  and 
Cicero,  and  Savonarola,  the  most  eloquent  of  the  re¬ 
formers,  illustrate  the  tendency  of  such  genius  to  b~ 
daunted  by  visible  perils. 

God  now  rejects  them  because  the  covenant  is 
violated.  As  Jesus  spoke  no  longer  of  “  My  Father’s 
house,"  but  “your  house,  left  unto  you  desolate,”  so 
the  Lord  said  to  Moses,  “  thy  people  which  thou 
broughtest  up." 

But  what  are  we  to  think  of  the  proposal  to  destroy 
them,  and  to  make  of  Moses  a  great  nation  ? 


432 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


We  are  to  learn  from  it  the  solemn  reality  of  inter¬ 
cession,  the  power  of  man  with  God,  Who  says  not  that 
He  will  destroy  them,  but  that  He  will  destroy  them 
if  left  alone.  Who  can  tell,  at  any  moment,  what 
calamities  the  intercession  of  the  Church  is  averting 
from  the  world  or  from  the  nation  ? 

The  first  prayer  of  Moses  is  brief  and  intense ;  there 
is  passionate  appeal,  care  for  the  Divine  honour, 
remembrance  of  the  saintly  dead  for  whose  sake  the 
living  might  yet  be  spared,  and  absolute  forgetfulness 
of  self.  Already  the  family  of  Aaron  had  been 
preferred  to  his,  but  the  prospect  of  monopolising  the 
Divine  predestination  has  no  charm  for  this  faithful 
and  patriotic  heart.  No  sooner  has  the  immediate 
destruction  been  arrested  than  he  hastens  to  check  the 
apostates,  makes  them  exhibit  the  madness  of  their 
idolatry  by  drinking  the  wrater  in  which  the  dust  of 
their  pulverised  god  was  strewn ;  receives  the  abject 
apology  of  Aaron,  thoroughly  spirit-broken  and 
demoralised ;  and  finding  the  sons  of  Levi  faithful, 
sends  them  to  the  slaughter  of  three  thousand  men. 
Yet  this  is  he  who  said  “O  Lord,  why  is  Thy  wrath 
hot  against  Thy  people  ?  ”  He  himself  felt  it  needful 
to  cut  deep,  in  mercy,  and  doubtless  in  wrath  as  well, 
for  true  affection  is  not  limp  and  nerveless :  it  is  like 
the  ocean  in  its  depth,  and  also  in  its  tempests.  And 
the  stern  action  of  the  Levites  appeared  to  him  almost 
an  omen;  it  was  their  11  consecration,”  the  beginning 
of  their  priestly  service. 

Again  he  returns  to  intercede  ;  and  if  his  prayer  must 
fail,  then  his  own  part  in  life  is  over :  let  him  too 
perish  among  the  rest.  For  this  is  evidently  what  he 
means  and  says :  he  has  not  quite  anticipated  the  spirit 
of  Christ  in  Paul  willing  to  be  anathema  for  his 


xxxii.] 


THE  GOLDEN  CALF. 


433 


brethren  (Rom.  ix.  3),  nor  has  the  idea  of  a  vicarious 
human  sacrifice  been  suggested  to  him  by  the  institu¬ 
tions  of  the  sanctuary.  Yet  how  gladly  would  he  have 
died  for  his  people,  who  made  request  that  he  might 
die  among  them  ! 

How  nobly  he  foreshadows,  not  indeed  the  Christian 
doctrine,  but  the  love  of  Christ  Who  died  for  man, 
Who  from  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  as  Moses  from 
Sinai,  came  down  (while  Peter  would  have  lingered) 
to  bear  the  sins  of  His  brethren !  How  superior  He 
is  to  the  Christian  hymn  which  pronounces  nothing 
worth  a  thought,  except  how  to  make  my  own  election 


sure. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 


PREVAILING  INTERCESSION. 


xxxiii, 


T  this  stage  the  first  concession  is  announced : 


jTTl  Moses  shall  lead  the  people  to  their  rest,  and 
God  will  send  an  angel  with  him. 

We  have  seen  that  the  original  promise  of  a  great 
Angel  in  whom  was  the  Divine  Presence  was  full  of 
encouragement  and  privilege  (xxiii.  20).  No  unbiassed 
reader  can  suppose  that  it  is  the  sending  of  this 
same  Angel  of  the  Presence  which  now  expresses  the 
absence  of  God,  or  that  He  Who  then  would  not 
pardon  their  transgression  “  because  My  Name  is  in 
Him”  is  now  sent  because  God,  if  He  were  in  the 
midst  of  them  for  a  moment,  would  consume  them. 
Nor,  when  Moses  passionately  pleads  against  this 
degradation,  and  is  heard  in  this  thing  also,  can  the 
answer  "My  Presence  shall  go  with  thee”  be  merely 
the  repetition  of  those  evil  tidings.  Yet  it  was  the 
Angel  of  His  Presence  Who  saved  them.  All  this 
has  been  already  treated,  and  what  we  are  now  to  learn 
is  that  the  faithful  and  sublime  urgency  of  Moses 
did  really  save  Israel  from  degradation  and  a  lower 
covenant. 

It  was  during  the  progress  of  this  mediation  that 
Moses  distracted  by  a  double  anxiety — afraid  to 


xxxiii.] 


P RE  VA I L IN G  INTERCESSION-. 


435 


absent  himself  from  his  wayward  followers,  equally 
afraid  to  be  so  long  withdrawn  from  the  presence  of 
God  as  the  descending  of  Sinai  and  returning  thither 
would  involve — made  a  noble  adventure  of  faith.  In¬ 
spired  by  the  conception  of  the  tabernacle,  he  took 
a  tent,  u  his  tent,”  and  pitched  it  outside  the  camp, 
to  express  the  estrangement  of  the  people,  and  this 
he  called  the  Tent  of  the  Meeting  (with  God),  but 
in  the  Hebrew  it  is  never  called  the  Tabernacle. 
And  God  did  condescend  to  meet  him  there.  The 
mystic  cloud  guarded  the  door  against  presumptuous 
intrusion,  and  all  the  people,  who  previously  wist 
not  what  had  become  of  him,  had  now  to  confess 
the  majesty  of  his  communion,  and  they  worshipped 
every  man  at  his  tent  door. 

It  would  seem  that  the  anxious  vigilance  of  Moses 
caused  him  to  pass  to  and  fro  between  the  tent  and 
the  camp,  “but  his  minister,  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun, 
departed  not  out  of  the  tent.” 

The  dread  crisis  in  the  history  of  the  nation  was 
now  almost  over.  God  had  said,  “  My  Presence  shall 
go  with  thee,  and  I  will  give  thee  rest,” — a  phrase 
which  the  lowly  Jesus  thought  it  no  presumption  to 
appropriate,  saying,  “/  will  give  you  rest,”  as  He 
also  appropriated  the  office  of  the  Shepherd,  the 
benevolence  of  the  Physician,  the  tenderness  of  the 
Bridegroom,  and  the  glory  of  the  King  and  the 
Judge,  all  of  which  belonged  to  God. 

But  Moses  is  not  content  merely  to  be  secure,  for  it 
is  natural  that  he  who  best  loves  man  should  also  best 
love  God.  Therefore  he  pleads  against  the  least  with¬ 
drawal  of  the  Presence  :  he  cannot  rest  until  repeatedly 
assured  that  God  will  indeed  go  with  him  ;  he  speaks 
as  if  there  were  no  “grace”  but  that  There  are 


43$ 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


many  people  now  who  think  it  a  better  proof  of  being 
religious  to  feel  either  anxious  or  comforted  about  their 
own  salvation,  their  election,  and  their  going  to  heaven. 
And  these  would  do  wisely  to  consider  how  it  comes 
to  pass  that  the  Bible  first  taught  men  to  love  and 
to  follow  God,  and  afterwards  revealed  to  them  the 
mysteries  of  the  inner  life  and  of  eternity. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

THE  VISION  OF  COD. 

xxx  iv. 

IT  was  when  God  had  most  graciously  assured 
Moses  of  His  affection,  that  he  ventured,  in  so  brief 
a  cry  that  it  is  almost  a  gasp  of  longing,  to  ask,  “  Show 
me,  I  pray  Thee,  Thy  glory”  (xxxiii.  18). 

We  have  seen  how  nobly  this  petition  and  the 
answer  condemn  all  anthropomorphic  misunderstand¬ 
ings  of  what  had  already  been  revealed ;  and  also  how 
it  exemplifies  the  great  law,  that  they  who  see  most 
of  God,  know  best  how  much  is  still  unrevealed.  The 
elders  saw  the  God  of  Israel  and  did  eat  and  drink : 
Moses  was  led  from  the  bush  to  the  flaming  top  of 
Sinai,  and  thence  to  the  tent  where  the  pillar  of  cloud 
was  as  a  sentinel ;  but  the  secret  remained  unseen, 
the  longing  unsatisfied,  and  the  nearest  approach  to 
the  Beatific  Vision  reached  by  him  with  whom  God 
spake  face  to  face  as  with  a  friend,  was  to  be  hidden 
in  a  cleft  of  the  rock,  to  be  aware  of  an  awful  Shadow, 
and  to  hear  the  Voice  of  the  Unseen. 

It  was  a  fit  time  for  the  proclamation  which  was 
then  made.  When  the  people  had  been  righteously 
punished  and  yet  graciously  forgiven,  the  name  of  the 
Self-Existent  expanded  and  grew  clearer, — 11  Jehovah 
Jehovah,  a  God  full  of  compassion  and  gracious,  slow 


43» 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


to  anger  and  plenteous  in  mercy  and  truth,  keeping 
mercy  for  thousands,  forgiving  iniquity  and  trans¬ 
gression  and  sin,  and  that  will  by  no  means  clear 
the  guilty,  visiting  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon 
the  children  and  upon  the  children’s  children,  upon  the 
third  and  upon  the  fourth  generation.”  And  as  Moses 
made  haste  and  bowed  himself,  it  is  affecting  to  hear 
him  again  pleading  for  that  beloved  Presence  which 
even  yet  he  can  scarce  believe  to  be  restored,  and 
instead  of  claiming  any  separation  through  his  fidelity 
and  his  honours,  praying  “  Pardon  our  iniquity  and  our 
sin,  and  take  us  for  Thine  inheritance”  (xxxiv.  io). 

Thereupon  the  covenant  is  given,  as  if  newly,  but 
without  requiring  its  actual  re-enactment ;  and  certain 
of  the  former  precepts  are  rehearsed,  chiefly  such  as 
would  guard  against  a  relapse  into  idolatry  when  they 
entered  the  good  land  where  God  would  bestow  on 
them  prosperity  and  conquest. 

As  Moses  had  broken  the  former  tablets,  the  task 
was  imposed  on  him  of  hewing  out  the  slabs  on  which 
God  renewed  His  awful  sanction  of  the  Decalogue,  the 
fundamental  statutes  of  the  nation.  And  they  who 
had  failed  to  endure  his  former  absence,  were  required 
to  be  patient  while  he  tarried  again  upon  the  mountain, 
forty  days  and  nights. 

With  his  return  a  strange  incident  is  connected. 
Unknown  by  himself,  the  “skin  of  his  face  shone  by 
leason  of  His  speaking  with  him,”  and  Aaron  and  the 
people  recoiled  until  he  called  to  them.  And  thence¬ 
forth  he  lived  a  strange  and  isolated  life.  At  each 
new  interview  the  glory  of  his  countenance  was 
renewed,  and  when  he  conveyed  his  revelation  to  the 
people,  they  beheld  the  lofty  sanction,  the  light  of  God 
upon  his  face.  Then  he  veiled  his  face  until  next  he 


xxxiv.] 


THE  VISION  OF  GOD. 


439 


approached  his  God,  so  that  none  might  see  what 
changes  came  there,  and  whether — as  St.  Paul  seems 
to  teach  us — the  lustre  gradually  waned. 

His  revelation,  the  apostle  argues,  was  like  this 
occasional  and  fading  gleam,  while  the  moral  glory 
of  the  Christian  system  has  no  concealments  :  it  uses 
great  frankness ;  there  is  nothing  withdrawn,  no  veil 
upon  the  face.  Nor  is  it  given  to  one  alone  to  behold 
as  in  a  mirror  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  and  to  share 
its  lustre.  We  all,  with  face  unveiled,  share  this 
experience  of  the  deliverer  (2  Cor.  iii.  12,  18). 

But  the  incident  itself  is  most  instructive.  Since  he 
had  already  spent  an  equal  time  with  God,  yet  no  such 
results  had  followed,  it  seems  that  we  receive  what  we 
are  adapted  to  receive,  not  straitened  in  Him  but  in  our 
own  capabilities  ;  and  as  Moses,  after  his  vehemence 
of  intercession,  his  sublimity  of  self-negation,  and  his 
knowledge  of  the  greater  name  of  God,  received  new 
lustre  from  the  unchangeable  Fountain  of  light,  so 
does  all  true  service  and  earnest  aspiration,  while  it 
approaches  God,  elevate  and  glorify  humanity. 

We  learn  also  something  of  the  exaltation  of  which 
matter  is  capable.  We  who  have  seen  coarse  bulb  and 
soil  and  rain  transmuted  by  the  sunshine  into  radiance 
of  bloom  and  subtlety  of  perfume,  who  have  seen  plain 
faces  illuminated  from  within  until  they  were  almost 
angelic, — may  we  not  hope  for  something  great  and  rare 
for  ourselves,  and  the  beloved  who  are  gone,  as  we  muse 
upon  the  profound  word,  “  It  is  raised  a  spiritual  body  ”  ? 

And  again  we  learn  that  the  best  religious  attainment 
is  the  least  self-conscious :  Moses  wist  nofc  that  the 
skin  of  his  face  shone. 


CHAPTERS  XXXV— XL. 


THE  CONCLUSION. 


HE  remainder  of  the  narrative  sets  forth  in  terms 


JL  almost  identical  with  the  directions  already  given, 
the  manner  in  which  the  Divine  injunctions  were  obeyed. 
The  people,  purified  in  heart  by  danger,  chastisement 
and  shame,  brought  much  more  than  was  required.  A 
quarter  of  a  million  would  poorly  represent  the  value 
of  the  shrine  in  which,  at  the  last,  Moses  and  Aaron 
approached  their  God,  while  the  cloud  covered  the  tent 
and  the  glory  filled  the  tabernacle,  and  Moses  failed  to 
overcome  his  awe  and  enter. 

Thenceforth  the  cloud  was  the  guide  of  their  halting 
and  their  march.  Many  a  time  they  grieved  their  God 
in  the  wilderness,  yet  the  cloud  was  on  the  tabernacle 
by  day,  and  there  was  fire  therein  by  night,  throughout 
all  their  journeyings. 

That  cloud  is  seen  no  longer ;  but  One  has  said, il  Lo, 
I  am  with  you  all  the  days.”  If  the  presence  is  less 
material,  it  is  because  we  ought  to  be  more  spiritual. 

Looking  back  upon  the  story,  we  can  discern  more 
clearly  what  was  asserted  when  we  began — the  forming 
and  training  of  a  nation. 

They  are  called  from  shameful  servitude  by  the 
devotion  of  a  patriot  and  a  hero,  who  has  learned  in 


THE  CONCLUSION. 


441 


failure  and  exile  the  difference  between  self-confidence 
and  faith.  The  new  name  of  God,  and  His  remem¬ 
brance  of  their  fathers,  inspire  them  at  the  same  time 
with  awe  and  hope  and  nationality.  They  see  the 
hollowness  of  earthly  force,  and  of  superstitious  wor¬ 
ships,  in  the  abasement  and  ruin  of  Egypt.  They  are 
taught  by  the  Paschal  sacrifice  to  confess  that  the 
Divine  favour  is  a  gift  and  not  a  right,  that  their  lives 
also  are  justly  forfeited.  The  overthrow  of  Pharaoh's 
army  and  the  passage  of  the  Sea  brings  them  into  a 
new  and  utterly  strange  life,  in  an  atmosphere  and 
amid  scenes  well  calculated  to  expand  and  deepen 
their  emotions,  to  develop  their  sense  of  freedom 
and  self-respect,  and  yet  to  oblige  them  to  depend 
wholly  on  their  God.  Privation  at  Marah  chastens 
them.  The  attack  of  Amalek  introduces  them  to  war, 
and  forbids  their  dependence  to  sink  into  abject  soft¬ 
ness.  The  awful  scene  of  Horeb  burns  and  brands  his 
littleness  into  man.  The  covenant  shows  them  that, 
however  little  in  themselves,  they  may  enter  into 
communion  with  the  Eternal.  It  also  crushes  out 
what  is  selfish  and  individualising,  by  making  them  feel 
the  superiority  of  what  they  all  share  over  anything 
that  is  peculiar  to  one  of  them.  The  Decalogue  reveals 
a  holiness  at  once  simple  and  profound,  and  forms  a 
type  of  character  such  as  will  make  any  nation  great. 
The  sacrificial  system  tells  them  at  once  of  the  pardon 
and  the  heinousness  of  sin.  Religion  is  both  exalted 
above  the  world  and  infused  into  it,  so  that  all  is  con¬ 
secrated.  The  priesthood  and  the  shrine  tell  them  of 
sin  and  pardon,  exclusion  and  hope ;  but  that  hope  is 
a  common  heritage,  which  none  may  appropriate  with¬ 
out  his  brother. 

The  especial  sanctity  of  a  sacred  calling  is  balanced 


442 


THE  BOOK  OF  EXODUS. 


by  an  immediate  assertion  of  the  sacredness  of  toil, 
and  the  Divine  Spirit  is  recognised  even  in  the  gift  of 
handicraft. 

A  tragic  and  shameful  failure  teaches  them,  more 
painfully  than  any  symbolic  system  of  curtains  and 
secret  chambers,  how  little  fitted  they  are  for  the 
immediate  intercourse  of  heaven.  And  yet  the  ever¬ 
present  cloud,  and  the  shrine  in  the  heart  of  their 
encampment,  assure  them  that  God  is  with  them  of  a 
truth. 

Could  any  better  system  be  imagined  by  which  to 
convert  a  slavish  and  superstitious  multitude  into  a 
nation  at  once  humble  and  pure  and  gallant — a  nation 
of  brothers  and  of  worshippers,  chastened  by  a  genuine 
sense  of  ill  desert  and  of  responsibility,  and  yet  braced 
and  fired  by  the  conviction  of  an  exalted  destiny  ? 

To  do  this,  and  also  to  lead  mankind  to  liberty,  to 
rescue  them  from  sensuous  worship,  and  prepare  them 
for  a  system  yet  more  spiritual,  to  teach  the  human 
race  that  life  is  not  repose  but  warfare,  pilgrimage  and 
aspiration,  and  to  sow  the  seeds  of  beliefs  and  expecta¬ 
tions  which  only  an  atoning  Mediator  and  an  Incarnate 
God  could  satisfy,  this  was  the  meaning  of  the  Exodus. 


> 


7  9490 

Jp  S  Cj  I  i  t-  /  ^ ';'5\ 

DOES  NOT  CIRCOlAtB 

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